User satisfaction with Dental Specialty Centers in Brazil: Proposal of satisfaction index and associated factors

Patient Satisfaction with the Quality of Oral Rehabilitation Dental Services: A Comparison between the Public and Private Health System

Measuring satisfaction can help us understand patients' expectations and adopt individualized treatment according to their expectations. In the current study, we applied the DPQ (Dental Practice Questionnaire) to analyze the degree of patient satisfaction regarding medical services in the public and private sector in a Romanian city from the central region. A group of 200 patients, 100 patients from the public sector and 100 patients from the private sector, participated in the survey. The results showed significant differences in response when patients were stratified by age, gender, visit frequency and length of time attending the same practice. Significant differences between public and private practices were encountered. Moreover, the degree of patient satisfaction was found to be related to appointment promptness/length of time and the confidentiality/ability to listen/knowledge/respect shown by the dentist, while patients' recommendations to others were influenced by dentists' explanations and warmth, followed by the appointment system and confidentiality. Patient satisfaction with oral rehabilitation dental services plays an essential role in maintaining patients' addressability, but there is a multitude of factors that can influence patients' opinions. Further analysis of the evolution of the influencing factors (causing satisfaction or dissatisfaction), in time, could provide deeper insights into the links between patient satisfaction and these factors.

Regulation of dental consultations in primary health care and performance of services in dental speciality centers

OBJECTIVE

This study analyzed the regulation of dental specialty centers (CEOs) coordinated exclusively by Primary Health Care (PHC) in four primary outcomes: access and dental consultation, reception services, bonding and responsibility, and social participation.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was carried out using secondary data from the National Program for the Improvement of Access and Quality of Dental Specialty Centers (PMAQ-CEO): second cycle, using multilevel logistic regression to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and individual covariates.

RESULTS

The analytical sample consisted of 9,599 CEO users who had completed all the variables analyzed. Of these, 63.5% were referred to the CEO by PHC. Dental care regulated by PHC was related to better access (OR 1.36, CI 95% 1.10-1.68), better reception (OR 1.33, CI 95% 1.03-1.71), better bonding and responsibility (OR 1.36, CI 95% 0.91-2.04), and social participation (OR 1.13, CI 95% 0.93-1.35) compared to those not regulated by primary health care as the exclusive pathway.

CONCLUSION

The regulation of access to the CEO coordinated by PHC presented the best performance. It is suggested that this form of PHC regulation, as a route for dental specialty centers, can be established in the national oral health care policy for better service performance.

University Students' Satisfaction with the Quality of Primary Dental Healthcare Services and Dentists in Croatia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Measuring satisfaction can be an essential method for evaluating and improving healthcare quality. Therefore, this survey aimed to determine university students' satisfaction with dental care at the primary healthcare level and the factors that influence students' decisions when choosing a dental provider. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered electronic questionnaire that assessed satisfaction with various aspects of dental care (patient-staff interaction, professional and technical competence, and administrative efficiency) on a 5-point Likert scale. A total of 806 students participated in the survey, of whom 56.6% were from a biomedical science background, and 43.4% from other scientific fields. Near-minimal differences were found between respondents studying in biomedical fields and those from other scientific fields, when evaluating satisfaction with dental services. More significant differences were found in the factors influencing their choice of dentist. The dentist's experience (p = 0.031), cost of service (p ≤ 0.001), office location (p = 0.034), waiting time (p = 0.029), qualifications (p = 0.033), and gender (p = 0.007) were more important for students pursuing one of the non-health-related majors. Overall, respondents were very satisfied with their dentists and the services provided. The highest satisfaction score was found on the "professional and technical competence" and "administrative efficiency" subscales, while the lowest satisfaction score was found on the "patient-staff interaction" subscale.

How to measure service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty of public library users: Application of library customer satisfaction index (LCSI) lite model

This study develops a simplified Library Customer Satisfaction Index (LCSI Lite) for public libraries. Using data collected from questionnaires administered at four public libraries in South Korea, structural equation modeling was used to measure the scores. The suggested model was confirmed to have good acceptable fit, and that three dimensions of service quality (library personnel, library resources and user services, and facilities and equipment) influenced loyalty via customer satisfaction. After successful factor analysis and reliability testing, three items for library personnel, four for library resources and user services, two for facilities and equipment, two for customer satisfaction, and two for loyalty were analyzed. Means of each item in service quality were over 3.77, and those in satisfaction and loyalty were over 4.00. Direct and indirect effects of the dimensions of service quality were analyzed, with the effect of satisfaction on loyalty. LCSI Lite scores for the libraries as a whole (73.90 out of 100) and for each library were calculated using suggested formula. Finally, research and managerial implications, some recommendations and suggestions for further research, limitations, and conclusions were presented.