ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Lifetime health maintenance program (LHMP) is designed for individualized disease prevention and health promotion through regular health check-ups and improving risk factors. This study aimed to investigate patients' satisfaction of lifetime health clinic (LHC) in a tertiary hospital and to evaluate associated factors in order to support primary health care strengthening policy. METHODS: We conducted surveys for patients, who visited LHC in a department of family medicine at a tertiary hospital from March 1st 2016 to December 31st 2016. We analyzed proportions and characteristics associated with patients, who were willing to recommend LHC. The relationship between willingness to recommend LHC and associated factors were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Among the patients who answered the questionnaires, 83.7% responded that they would recommend LHC to others. Results from multivariate analyses suggested that patients living in provinces (odds ratio [OR] 4.21, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36-13.02), patients who were recommend by others to visit LHC (OR 3.99, 95% CI, 1.29-12.35), and those who had a large number of medical service preference items (OR 5.91, 95% CI, 1.48-23.58) were significantly associated with willingness to recommend LHC. CONCLUSIONS: LHC pursues the goal of primary care. Findings highlight the fact that high quality health service should be provided in small and municipal hospitals to improve patients' satisfaction. Furthermore, it is essential to establish family physician networks and health service infrastructure that can reflect various opinions.