General and Vulnerable Population’s Satisfaction With the Healthcare System in Urban and Rural Areas: Findings From the European Social Survey

Abstract

Introduction: Access to the healthcare system when patients are vulnerable and living outside metropolitan areas can be challenging. Our objective was to explore healthcare system satisfaction of urban and rural inhabitants depending on financial and health vulnerabilities.Methods: Repeated cross-sectional data from 353,523 European citizens (2002–2016). Multivariable associations between rural areas, vulnerability factors and satisfaction with the healthcare system were assessed with linear mixed regressions and adjusted with sociodemographic and control factors.Results: In unadjusted analysis, the people who lived in houses in the countryside and those who lived in the suburbs were the most satisfied with the healthcare system. In the adjusted model, residents living in big cities had the highest satisfaction. Financial and health vulnerabilities were associated with less satisfaction with the healthcare system, with a different effect according to the area of residence: the presence of health vulnerability was more negatively correlated with the healthcare system satisfaction of big city inhabitants, whereas financial vulnerability was more negatively correlated with the satisfaction of those living in countryside homes.Conclusion: Vulnerable residents, depending on their area of residence, may require special attention to increase their satisfaction with the healthcare system.

Analysis of Patient Satisfaction with the Quality of Medical Services in the Primary Health Care Network as the Main Providers of Health Services

“…[4,5]. Вследствие этого, общая заболеваемость и полиморбидность с течением времени будут только возрастать, побуждая пациентов неоднократно контактировать с системой здравоохранения [6,7].…”

Public satisfaction with health system after healthcare reform in China

“…The severity score for the healthcare problem is a reflection of public satisfaction with the health system because it indicates the respondent’s perception of functioning of the system. The degree of severity of problems as a measure of public satisfaction in the health system has been suggested by several previous studies [ 8 , 41 , 42 ]. The inverse relationship between severity of healthcare complaints and patients’ satisfaction with the system has been documented [ 43 ].…”

Socioeconomic inequality in public satisfaction with the healthcare system in China: a quantile regression analysis

“…Owing to these features, public satisfaction has been regarded as an important indicator for monitoring the performance of a nation's healthcare system [3,6,11], as well as a key measure of government administration performance [4] and social welfare [12]. Meanwhile, significant variations among the association factors have been observed across countries [13,14]. Populations with financial and health vulnerabilities were found to have lower level of satisfaction with the healthcare system even among European countries [13].…”

“…Meanwhile, significant variations among the association factors have been observed across countries [13,14]. Populations with financial and health vulnerabilities were found to have lower level of satisfaction with the healthcare system even among European countries [13].…”