Barriers towards utilization of Primary Health care services and its association with satisfaction of patients visiting THQ hospital, Kallar Syedan

Abstract

Introduction: Primary healthcare is essential in all the modern healthcare systems. It serves as the first point of contact for individuals seeking medical care, playing a basic role in preventing, diagnosing, and managing health conditions. However, barriers to primary health care utilization persist, leading to disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. Understanding these barriers and their impact on patient satisfaction is vital for improving healthcare delivery and achieving equitable healthcare access for all. Objectives: This study aims to find the utilization of primary health care services in tehsil Kallar Syedan. To identify the barriers for utilizing primary health care services and to find association of satisfaction of patients in visiting primary health care centers with barriers to primary healthcare service utilization. Methods: This cross-sectional study sampled 344 patients from THQ hospital of Tehsil Kallar Syedan. Questionnaire included demographic variables and questions on utilization of primary health care services, satisfaction with PHC visit and barriers towards utilization of PHC services using a yes or no response. Chi-square test was used to find association of demographic variables with outcome variable. Results: The results sampled 50.6% of males. Majority of the respondents (71.8%) in our study were not utilizing PHC services. Almost half of the participants (49%) in the study were satisfied with their visit to PHC. The most reported barriers were organizational barriers (40.4%) and access barriers (34.3%). All the barriers had statistically significant association with the satisfaction of patients (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that the utilization of PHC services and satisfaction with PHC visit was low. Findings from this study will allow the policy makers to reduce the impact of barriers towards PHC service utilization. Provision of PHC services at PHC nearest to community’s locality and promoting services that are being provided free of charge at these centers can aid in reducing the access barriers and organizational barriers. Keywords: Primary health care, PHC utilization, patient satisfaction, barriers towards PHC services, Kallar Syedan.