ArticleBMC health services research2018
Quality of primary care from patients' perspective: a cross sectional study of outpatients' experience in public health facilities in rural Malawi.
Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Performance measurement systems in primary health care: a systematic literature review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Healthcare service user-reported quality of care in Malawi: a national multifacility cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Primary care performance in a Ugandan rural district: a cross-sectional descriptive study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Patient satisfaction and health services in two public hospitals in Mogadishu, Somalia: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Positive association between patient experience of primary care with chronic disease and self-rated health in a Japanese rural area: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey using the Japanese primary care assessment tool short form.Journal of general and family medicine · 2024Article
- Associations between Primary Healthcare Experiences and Glycemic Control Status in Patients with Diabetes: Results from the Greater Bay Area Study, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The quality of primary care performance in private sector facilities in Nairobi, Kenya: a cross-sectional descriptive survey.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Association between resident status and patients' experiences of primary care: a cross-sectional study in the Greater Bay Area, China.BMJ open · 2022Article
- [Measuring comprehensiveness of care using the Primary Care Assessment Tool: systematic reviewEvaluación de la integralidad en la atención primaria de salud por medio de la herramienta de evaluación de la atención primaria: revisión sistemática].Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2022Article
- Measuring the quality of primary care in national health surveys: Lessons from Brazil.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2020Article
- Patient satisfaction about services obtained from a teaching hospital, Port Blair: A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2020Article
- World Family Doctors Day 2019: Reflections from an African perspective.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2019Article
- Patient experiences of primary care quality amongst different types of health care facilities in central Vietnam.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Primary health care performance: a scoping review of the current state of measurement in Africa.BMJ global health · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAssessing patients' experience with primary care complements measures of clinical health outcomes in evaluating service performance. Measuring patients' experience and satisfaction are among Malawi's health sector strategic goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate patients' experience with primary care and to identify associated patients' sociodemographic, healthcare and health characteristics.
methodsThis was a cross sectional survey using questionnaires administered in public primary care facilities in Neno district, Malawi. Data on patients' primary care experience and their sociodemographic, healthcare and health characteristics were collected through face to face interviews using a validated Malawian version of the primary care assessment tool (PCAT-Mw). Mean scores were derived for the following dimensions: first contact access, continuity of care, comprehensiveness, community orientation and total primary care. Linear regression models were used to assess association between primary care dimension scores and patients' characteristics.
resultsFrom 631 completed questionnaires, first contact access, relational continuity and comprehensiveness of services available scored below the defined minimum. Sex, geographical location, self-rated health status, duration of contact with facility and facility affiliation were associated with patients' experience with primary care. These factors explained 10.9% of the variance in total primary care scores; 25.2% in comprehensiveness of services available and 29.4% in first contact access.
conclusionThis paper presents results from the first use of the validated PCAT-Mw. The study provides a baseline indicating areas that need improvement. The results can also be used alongside clinical outcome studies to provide comprehensive evaluation of primary care performance in Malawi.
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