Exploratory analysis of factors influencing hospital preferences among the Lebanese population: a cross-sectional study

Objectives The primary aim of this research is to uncover the underlying factors that shape hospital selection criteria among individuals in Lebanon. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting A survey was circulated across social media platforms and messaging applications in Lebanon from February to May 2023. This questionnaire aimed to gauge participants' opinions on the importance of various factors in their hospital selection process. Participants A total of 746 participants filled out the survey. We targeted Lebanese adults who were not hospitalised at the time of survey submission. Main outcome measures We performed an exploratory factor analysis to examine the underlying structure of our 70-question survey. Reliability analysis was conducted using Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega. Factor scores were derived by aggregating raw scores and computing the mean. Results The survey results identified eight key factors that accounted for 58.02% of the total variance, with excellent sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin=0.921, Bartlett's p<0.001). These factors exhibited good internal consistency, as indicated by Cronbach's alpha values for each factor. Ranked by importance for hospital selection, the factors are: staff qualities (alpha=0.773), administrative services (alpha=0.801), reputation (alpha=0.773), ease of access (alpha=0.704), room attributes (alpha=0.796), architectural and physical surroundings (alpha=0.828), luxury amenities (alpha=0.849) and affiliation and ownership (alpha=0.661). Conclusion This paper highlights the hospital characteristics that people may value before selecting a hospital. This insight provides an opportunity for hospital managers to refine their services, ensuring better resonance with people's anticipations. Beyond this, it sheds light on areas where hospitals could strategically invest to elevate their competitive edge in the healthcare market.