Patient satisfaction according to type of primary healthcare practitioner in the Capital Health Region, Kuwait

Objectives: To evaluate patient satisfaction according to the type of primary healthcare practitioners (family medicine versus general practice physicians) and study the relationship between patients' socio-demographic characteristics and their level of satisfaction with primary healthcare services Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire based survey Setting: Four family medicine and four general primary care practice centers in the Capital Health Region in Kuwait Subjects and Methods: Four hundred patients of 15-years- and-above age reporting to the selected centers. Data were collected through personal interview using a questionnaire that included socio-demographic characteristics of patients and practitioners. Main Outcome Measure: Patient satisfaction was measured through 20 items using a five point Likert scale. Results: In the family medicine setting, Kuwaiti practitioners were prevalent (60%), while non-Kuwaiti practitioners were predominant in general practice (74%, p < 0.001). Old practitioners (50 years old and above) were more prevalent in general primary care than in family medicine setting (p = 0.001). The patients mean satisfaction score in family medicine (78.4%) was higher than that in general practice (75.2%). Females with higher income and with more follow up visits reported higher levels of satisfaction (p = 0.013, 0.02, and 0.019 respectively). Patient satisfaction was not affected by gender, nationality or age of the treating practitioner in both practices Conclusion: Patients attending family medicine clinics reported higher satisfaction than those attending general clinics. There is a need to remedy the areas that received low levels of patient' satisfaction, and to continue the upgrading of the general and family medicine practitioners.