[Satisfaction of users at a family medicine unit]

To evaluate the satisfaction of the users seen at the external consultation of the Family Medicine Unit 1 of the IMSS, in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.

A transversal study was performed during a day of January 2004, selecting at random a sample of 380 users taken from the base of 38,000 monthly consultations. Rightful claimants of more than 15 years old who received consultation that day were included, and his/her satisfaction with the reception and the medical attention were evaluated by means of a questionnaire on the opportunity, kindness, attention, results, information, comfort, medical appointment, exploration, relationship doctor-patient, number of medicines, and perception of the general treatment. The analysis of the results was made by means of descriptive statistics.

104 men and 276 women were surveyed. The rating of the reception was excellent according to 85 users (22.1%), average according to 138 (36.3%) and poor according to 142 (37.4%). The rating of the received medical attention was excellent according to 123 users (32.4%) and average according to 157 (41.3%). The perception of the received treatment was good in 232 rightful claimants (61.1%).

Although the results show that more than a half of the users perceive a good treatment, they are frequently unsatisfied with the medical attention received. It will be necessary to deepen in the factors that influence the unsatisfaction, such as the kind treatment in the reception, greater medicine stock in pharmacy, enough and comfortable seats in waiting rooms, cleaner waiting rooms and doctor's offices, and the possibility of arranging appointments and consultations by telephone.