Patients' perspective in Chilean primary care: a questionnaire validation study

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Experience Measurement
• Primary Care Quality Assessment

Background:

• Assessing patient-perceived quality of care is crucial for improving primary healthcare services.
• Existing instruments may not adequately capture the nuances of patient experiences in specific healthcare contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and validate the Health Centre Assessment Questionnaire (HCAQ) for assessing patient-reported quality of care.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the HCAQ within the Chilean primary care setting.

Main Methods:

• The HCAQ, comprising multiple and single-item scales, was adapted using established literature.
• Pre-testing involved 100 primary care patients; validation included 2896 patients across 10 urban public healthcare centres.
• Standard psychometric techniques were employed to assess validity and reliability.

Main Results:

• A high response rate (99%) indicated patient acceptability.
• The instrument demonstrated good reliability, evidenced by high internal consistency and homogeneity.
• Validity was supported through scaling assumptions and correlation analyses.

Conclusions:

• The adapted HCAQ is a useful, acceptable, reliable, and valid instrument for evaluating key dimensions of Chilean primary care.
• Further research is recommended to assess external validity and test-retest reliability.