TOURIST SATISFACTION WITH PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SERVICES IN ASEER REGION

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the satisfaction of tourists who utilized health care services of five selected primary health care centers in Abha, Aseer region of Saudi Arabia in the summer of the year 2000. METHODS: This study was conducted during July of 2000 in five primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. Self-administered questionnaire designed by the investigators was distributed to all tourists who fulfilled the following criteria: aged above 15 years, can read and write and has intent on participating voluntarily. The questionnaire concerned satisfaction with different health care services delivered by the PHCCs and suggestions for the improvement of the services. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: A total of 413 tourists fulfilled the selected criteria. The mean age of the participants was 29.2 years; 81.4% were males, 37.3% were highly educated and 32.7% came from western province. PHCCs services were accessible to 87% and the working hours at PHCCs were suitable for 88.6% of the tourists. More than three-quarters of the visitors came for cure. Satisfaction with the different health services on a 5-point scale ranged from 4.63 points for availability of medications to 4.85 points for cooperation of treating doctors. Seventeen suggestions and comments were reported by 26% of the participants. Most of these suggestions and comments were about providing an adequate number of female doctors and medications. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that most of the tourists who utilized the selected PHCCs in Aseer region were satisfied with most of the different PHCCs services. However, many tourists gave valid suggestions and comments which should be considered for the improvement of the quality of care in these PHCCs in the future.