Service users’ perception about healthcare provided by teams participating in the National Program for Primary Care Access and Quality Improvement in Brazil^*

Abstract

Objective:

to analyze service users’ perception of health care provided by the teams participating in the National Program for Primary Care Access and Quality Improvement (PMAQ-AB) in Brazil.

Methods:

this was a cross-sectional study using data from interviews with users of services provided by PMAQ-AB teams in 2012. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the association between perception level (very good/good, regular, poor/very poor) and variables of four primary care attributes: accessibility, integrality, longitudinality and care coordination.

Results:

out of 65,391 users, 78.9% evaluated care as very good/good, 19.0% as regular and 2.1% as poor/very poor. Associations with care by the same physician (OR 3.21; 95% CI 2.68, 3.83) and physical examination at consultation (OR 3.08; 95% CI 2.50, 3.79) were the most prominent.

Conclusion:

the majority of users evaluated care positively, however there is perception of care problems within the recommended attributes.

Keywords:
Primary Health Care; Patient Satisfaction; Quality of Care; Cross-Sectional Studies