Patients' perspective in Chilean primary care: a questionnaire validation study

Objective. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate an instrumentfor assessing quality of care from the patients' perspectivein the context of Chilean primary care. Methods. The ‘Health Centre Assessment Questionnaire’ ismade up of six multiple-item scales and two single-item scalesaddressing eight key areas of primary care activity. A furthertwo single-item scales ask about the overall satisfaction andthe way in which the centre deals with patients' health issues.The adaptation process was developed according to methods describedin the specialized literature. The instrument was initiallypre-tested in a sample of 100 primary care patients. The validationwas carried out in 10 urban public primary healthcare centreswhere 2896 patients were invited to complete the questionnaire.The validity and reliability of the instrument was assessedusing standard psychometric techniques. Results. Ninety nine per cent (2870) of those approached completed thequestionnaire. It was acceptable to most of the patients asreflected by the high response rate, and a full range of possiblescores in most of the scales. Reliability was good as reflectedby high internal consistency and homogeneity. Validity was supportedby the confirmation of scaling assumptions, the moderate correlationsbetween multiple-item scales, and by the confirmation of our‘a priori’ hypothesis. Conclusions. The questionnaire could be a useful instrument for assessinga number of important dimensions in Chilean primary care. Itis acceptable, reliable and valid. Further work is requiredto evaluate its validity against external criteria and its test–retestreliability.