ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY BY POPULATION OF ALMATY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

A survey of 1 194 respondents aged 45+ living in Almaty (Kazakhstan) to assess satisfaction with the quality of medical care was conducted. Specially trained interviewers visited respondents at home and filled questionnaires, which included questions on socio-demographic characteristics, the characteristics of medical care during the past year, bad habits, self-assessment of health, trust to doctors and the respondent's opinion on quality of health care. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Adjustment was performed for socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and the peculiarities of medical care. Altogether, 55.7 % (95 % CI 52.9; 58.5) of respondents were not satisfied with the quality of medical care. In multivariable analysis dissatisfaction with the quality of health care was associated with education, income, and self-, but the most influential factor was distrust of doctors (OR = 19, 95 % CI 12; 30). Thus, measures aimed at increasing the trust in doctors, especially the development of personalized medicine, have a potential increase the degree of satisfaction of the population with the quality of medical care. This study can serve as a start point for a panel study to monitor population's satisfaction with the quality of health care.