Authors : Behzad Karami Matin, Satar Rezaei, Mehdi Moradinazar, Mohammad Mahboubi and Mari Ataee
Abstract: Primary health care is the core of the health system of each country and assessing quality of these services is the first step in planning to maintain or promote health status of people. The study aimed to evaluate the quality of health services provided in urban health centers in Kermanshah province, West of Iran, in the year 2015. This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study which the perspective of 400 respondents were assessed about the quality of primary health services provided by health centers in Kermanshah. Samples were selected by multi-cluster sampling. First, among fourteen towns of Kermanshah province, three towns were randomly chosen. Second by random sampling, three health center were chosen in each town, then each health center was included 45 participants. Data was collected by SERVQUAL questionnaire, based on the five dimensions of service quality gap which includes 22 questions. The collected data was statistically analyzed by STATA V.12 Software. The results indicated that there are negative gap in all of five dimensions. The highest and lowest gaps in the mean score were found in the assurance (-1.82) and empathy (-1.02) dimensions. The highest and lowest mean score of perception were associated with assurance and responsiveness, respectively. Also, the highest and lowest mean score of expectation were associated with assurance and empathy, respectively. Based on the study, in all of five dimensions, there was a significant difference gaps between the respondents’ perceptions and their expectation. However, it is suggested that the planners and managers of health centers must improve the timeliness of the delivery of care and enhance the communication skills of staff members in order to increase the quality of the services provided.
Behzad Karami Matin, Satar Rezaei, Mehdi Moradinazar, Mohammad Mahboubi and Mari Ataee, 2016. Measurement of Quality of Primary Health Services by Servqual Model: Evidence from Urban Health Centers in West of Iran. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 10: 475-480.