A study of patient satisfaction with primary health care services in Saudi Arabia

Patient satisfaction is of value to primary health care providers. The main objective of this study was to estimate patient satisfaction with respect to primary health care services in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Fourteen primary health care centers were chosen randomly to represent various geographic areas of Riyadh. Information was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire used by thirty well-trained final year medical students. Systematic sampling of family files was conducted and the household head was interviewed. Nine hundred respondents were interviewed concerning their satisfaction with the services delivered. The findings were as follows: 40% were dissatisfied. One third of the dissatisfied expressed the view that the center was too far; 19.4% complained that the working hours of the center were not suitable; 38.9% complained of the absence of specialty clinics; 19.4% had language barriers with the physicians; 63.9% complained about delays at the center; 16.7% of the satisfied and 38.9% of the dissatisfied complained that the physicians did not satisfactorily explain their health problems and treatments. In 22.7% of the dissatisfied category, physicians' explanations were neither clear nor understandable. Among the satisfied, 74.6% said that primary health care center was the first choice if they felt sick; 61.1% of the non-satisfied category gave this response. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations are given to rectify certain problems.