A Cross-Sectional Study on Patient Satisfaction with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) Primary Care Clinic

Patient satisfaction plays a crucial role in ensuring utilization of healthcare services, continuity of care, and compliance towards treatment. Thus, this study aimed at determining the level of patient satisfaction with the services provided by the UKMMC primary care clinic. A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 317 patients attending the clinic from February to March 2011 was carried out. They were selected through systematic random sampling. Using a validated self-administered Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-46 (PSQ-46) in English and Malay versions, general satisfaction and satisfactions with five different subscales (doctors, nurses, accessibility, facilities and appointment) were assessed. A majority of the patients (93.1%) were generally satisfied with the overall services. Among the five subscales, patients were most satisfied with the doctors (96.5%), but only 35.6% of the patients were satisfied with the facilities. The proportions of patients who were satisfied with other subscales were: 86.1% (appointment), 82.0% (nurses) and 68.1% (accessibility). There was a significant association between each of the subscales and the general satisfaction (p<0.001 for doctors, nurses, accessibility and appointment; p=0.014 for facilities). However, such relationship was not demonstrated between the socio-demographic factors and the general satisfaction (p=0.200 for gender, p=0.108 for age, p=0.894 for race, p=0.146 for educational level, p=0.653 for job status, p=0.867 for type of occupation, and p=0.623 for family income). In conclusion, many patients perceived that clinic facilities were substandard but they still had a high level of general satisfaction. Nevertheless, strategies in improving the facilities are still required as it will contribute to the quality of care and patient satisfaction.