Evaluation of Levels and Determinants of Patient Satisfaction with Primary Health Care Services in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThe Saudi Ministry of Health makes continual efforts to provide high-quality preventive services through a large network of primary health care (PHC) centers. Patient satisfaction is integral to measuring health outcomes and the quality of these services.MethodsWe searched the Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases for studies investigating patient satisfaction with PHC services in Saudi Arabia in the past 10 years. The risk of bias and heterogeneity across the included studies were assessed with Newcastle Ottawa scale and I2 test, respectively. Review Manger version 5.311 was used for data analysis with the random effect model. The quality of evidence of each outcome was measured with the GRADE approach.ResultsThe review included 3302 Saudi residents from six observational studies conducted in different regions of Saudi Arabia. Most studies included in the review had low risk of bias regarding the studied domains. The review indicated moderate overall satisfaction with PHC services (77.00%) among participants. More than 60% of the participants (63.11% and 82.59%) were satisfied with the continuity and communication of PHC services, respectively, whereas, less than half (41.73% and 46.92%) were satisfied with the accessibility of the PHC services and the health education provided at these centers. Moreover, low satisfaction was found among older patients and those with low educational levels. Other sociodemographic factors did not determine patient satisfaction.Conclusion and RecommendationsThis review indicated a moderate level of overall patient satisfaction with respect to the targeted satisfaction level for Saudi Ministry of Health 2023 PHC services of 85%. Additional efforts and continuing evaluation by health care providers will be crucial to address the weaknesses in PHC services.