[Quality control in primary health care. I - Consumer satisfaction]. / Controle de qualidade em atenção primária à saúde. I - A satisfação do usuário.

In this paper, the first of a series dealing with the development of a methodology for assessing quality of ambulatory care, a sample of 270 outpatients from the same health center were presented with a list of 12 questions. Although different versions of the questionnaire were tested, we found a high degree of agreement between the results. The findings indicate that the parameter "satisfaction" lends itself readily to measurement, thus becoming a useful instrument for guiding active intervention.

[Quality evaluation of primary health care in an urban area of southern Brazil]. / Avaliação da qualidade de assistência primária à saúde em localidade urbana da região sul do Brasil.

A 10% sample of patients who attended two Primary Health Care Units (PHCU) in Pelotas, RS (Brazil) was studied cross-sectionally for the purpose of measuring qualitatively the attention being offered to the population. According to domicilliar interviews, 15 days after their appointments, a solution (cure or improvement) was achieved in 87.9% of the patients. Patients or parents satisfaction (in the case of pediatric patients) was observed in nearly 90% of the sample. Patient satisfaction and solution were statistically associated (p = 0.04). Association between the solution and the availability of medicines in the PHCU was observed. Patients who had received the whole or a part of their treatment had 33% greater probability of solving their problem. Professional satisfaction was linearly associated with both perception of a better professional-patient relationship (PR = 3.48; CI95%2.17-5.59) and the expectation of a better patient prognosis (PR = 1.99; CI95%1.36-2.91).