Assessment of Satisfaction with Primary Health Care Services: an Account of Clients’ Perception in Baghdad.

Abstract

Background: Primary health care (PHC) is the “front door” of the health system. This perception highlights the importance of the wide perspective required to analyze the quality of care that’s provided by primary health care centers. Aim:   To assess satisfaction with the quality of care provided by the medical consultation units in PHC centers from the perspective of the clients in question Methods: Cross-sectional primary health care center-based study was conducted from the 1st to the 23rd of February 2022 in Baghdad, Iraq. Six peripheral PHC centers were randomly selected from both Al-Karkh & Al-Rasafa. Clients’ satisfaction with care was assessed according to the revised model of quality which includes: safety, effectiveness, waiting time, and patient/kin-centeredness besides other criteria. All of these details, including the socio-demographic characteristics, were collected by a structured-interview questionnaire. Results: Out of (415) clients who were enrolled in this study, two-thirds (65%) expressed general satisfaction regarding the overall healthcare services. When the quality of care was dissected into a more specific nature, the overall satisfaction had dropped and the lowest level of satisfaction was in timeliness, safety, and patient/kin-centeredness (18.5%, 38%, and 40%, respectively), while the highest was in equity, kindness with compassion & holistic care (68%, 63%, and 57%, respectively). Other criteria remained on the borderline, with almost (50%) satisfaction for each. Conclusion: The clients’ overall satisfaction was above the average which reflects an acceptable quality of care. Nevertheless, the overall satisfaction per se might be misleading in the assessment of quality and not necessarily correlate to the reality and that’s why every aspect of care must be evaluated separately, and not just the tip of the iceberg