Journal of General Practice

Patient Satisfaction in kuwait's Primary Healthcare Centers

Abstract

Hendi B, Hunaidi M, Duwaisan H, Khaja A*

Objective: To compare the level of patient's satisfaction between family healthcare centers and general practitioner healthcare centers throughout the 5 governates of Kuwait.
Method:  A questionnaire was issued, available in both Arabic and English depending on the patients’ preference, between 12/3/2013 and 17/4/2013 throughout the five governates of Kuwait. The patient was asked to complete an online form, via the iPad, through which his satisfaction was rated for each question from 1-5, the higher the score the higher level of satisfaction.  A sample of 476patients, 265 subjects from general practitioner health centers and 211 subjects from family medicine health centers.
Results: The overall level of patient satisfaction in general practitioner health centers was 82.5 whilst at family medicine healthcare centers the overall level of satisfaction was 82.1.  Female subjects represented 52% of the total sample collected at family medicine health care centers and the majority of patients were between 31-50 years of age, representing 49% of the sample. The majority of subjects were graduates with a bachelor’s degree, representing 42% of the sample.  However, the great majority attending general practitioner healthcare centers were Males, representing 67%.  The majority of the subjects were undergraduates, representing 42% of the overall sample. The great majority of subjects were Kuwaiti nationals representing general practitioner and family medicine health care centers 94% and 90% respectively. General practitioner healthcare center subject's age, educational qualification and nationalities were not significantly related to the overall level of satisfaction as overall the levels of satisfaction were equally high between the various groups.  On the other the older patients, above 50, and undergraduates were more satisfied with family medicine healthcare centers. 
Conclusion: Patient satisfaction is regarded as an outcome of care itself and one of the major contributions towards better patient compliance leading presumably to better clinical outcomes.