title: Patient satisfaction with mobile clinic services in a remote rural area of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Mobile clinics have been established in Saudi Arabia to facilitate the equitable delivery of primary health care services in remote and rural areas. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the perceived quality of services provided to villages in the Al-Laith region. The majority of the 176 clients interviewed were satisfied with the working hours and health staff. However, 35.8% viewed the location as unsatisfactory and 20.5% were dissatisfied with the clinic schedule. Overall satisfaction was very high, although the mobile clinics were not viewed as substitutes for primary health care centres. Public awareness of the service needs to be improved and better access and quality of services are important for optimal service provision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. draljasir@yahoo.com
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aljasir
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Alghamdi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors