MJM, Vol 70 Supplement 1 September 2015
Accessibility, utilisation and perception on
quality of healthcare services among rural adults in Sarawak and its factors: a
community based study
*Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Malaysia Sarawak, **Faculty of Medicine, Segi College Sarawak
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Accessibility, quality and the utilisation of health care services among the rural populations in Sarawak remains a challenge to the Ministry of Health Malaysia. The objective of this study was to assess the perception of accessibility, quality and the usage of health care services and factors affecting them among the rural population in Sarawak.
Methods: A quantitative research design and analysis was used for the study. A total of 1400 participants were included for analysis.
Results: More than half (54.7%) of the respondents were satisfied with the accessibility of the health care services and binary logistic regression analysis revealed that this was associated with race and current comorbidity. Fifty two point seven per cent (52.7%) were satisfied with the quality of the health care services provided to them and it was influenced by the race and the economic status. More than half (55.9%) of the respondents reported that they had utilised health care facilities in the last one year and this was influenced by age, race, marital status, education level and the current comorbidity.
Conclusion: In achieving equity and progressing towards Universal Health Coverage, accessibility, quality and utilisation rate of the health care services are important indicators for the ministry of health to ensure success in health care delivery in the rural population of Sarawak. Access to health care services could be achieved by recruiting the family medicine specialist and creating more post for medical officer in the rural clinics. The utilisation of health care services would be better if services were made known to the public through information dissemination by local language and by the village health promoters. The quality of healthcare services can be improved by better communication skills in health information to the rural population.
Keywords: Accessibility, Utilisation, Quality in Health Care Services, Sarawak.
