Abstract
ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To assess the construct validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the European Task Force on Patient Evaluation of General Practice Care questionnaire.METHODS We applied the Portuguese version of the European Task Force on Patient Evaluation of General Practice Care to 392 users of 20 Family Health Units from the North of Portugal. The validity of the construct was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis, with the Principal Axis Factoring method, by orthogonal rotation (varimax procedure), by the Kaiser normalization criteria (eigenvalue ≥ 1). The factorability of the data matrix was verified by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s sphericity test. We estimated the reliability by the indicator of internal consistency Cronbach’s alpha. To analyze the correlations between satisfaction and loyalty, we used the Pearson correlations. The predictor effect of satisfaction on loyalty was analyzed by simple linear regression.RESULTS Satisfaction presented five robust and well individualized dimensions – medical care, nursing care, clinical secretariat services, accessibility, and organization of services – with alpha values between 0.86 and 0.97, good levels of internal consistency. The loyalty showed alpha value of 0.72, considered a reasonable internal consistency. The satisfaction was predictive of loyalty.CONCLUSIONS The Portuguese European Task Force on Patient Evaluation of General Practice Care questionnaire is a robust and reliable instrument to measure the satisfaction and loyalty of users of the Family Health Units.
Highlights
Quality in health is currently a requirement for all those involved in health care
The quality indicators have been developed in the hospital context and their use quickly spread to primary health care
The satisfaction is equivalent to the well-being of users, manifested in their opinion about the quality of the obtained services[24]
Summary
Quality in health is currently a requirement for all those involved in health care. The quality indicators have been developed in the hospital context and their use quickly spread to primary health care. The satisfaction is equivalent to the well-being of users, manifested in their opinion about the quality of the obtained services[24] It is a dynamic process influenced by individual, psychological, and sociocultural factors, among others. Because it is a multidimensional concept, the satisfaction concerning primary health care can feature an assessment of several aspects, such as accessibility, user-health professional relationship, infrastructure, and health service results[7,9]. It is necessary to listen to the views of users on how the services contributed to improve or solve their health state[22,24] This concept of involvement and active participation of users in the provision of health care came from the USA, being later adopted in Europe. Users’ satisfaction increasingly occupies an important place in assessing the quality, aware of their valorization as active agents and consumers, because it was found that their satisfaction is related to therapeutic adherence and with results achieved and effectiveness of interventions, contributing to change health behaviors[1,3,19,23]
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