Abstract
In this cross-sectional study we assessed self-perceived quality of inpatient healthcare in three Kazakhstani cities. Altogether, 923 patients admitted to the city hospitals in Almaty, Aktobe and Semey filled out an anonymous questionnaire. 63 % of them were emergency patients. Binary logistic regression and principal component analysis (PCA) were used. Adjustments for social and demographic patients' characteristics were made. Altogether, 82.9 % (95 % CI 80.3-85.2) of patients rated the quality of healthcare as good or excellent. Among emergency patients, the key factors for being unsatisfied by the quality of services were insufficient quality of hospital food (OR 4.2; 95 % CI 1.70, 10.4), poor communication between doctors and nurses (OR 6.3; 95 % CI 2.3; 17.3) and the lack of adequate explanations regarding procedures and medication (OR 3.8; 95 % CI 1.5, 9.6). Among non-emergency patients, the key factors for being unsatisfied by the quality of services were insufficient quality of hospital food (OR 2.3; 95 % CI 1.2, 4.6), poor communication between doctors and nurses (OR 6.3; 95 % CI 2.9, 13.5), situation if the physician did not pay attention to whether a patient understood information about his/her condition or treatment (OR 2.4; 95 % CI 1.0, 5.2), when the patient has not had the opportunity to discuss his/her condition with medical staff (OR 2.7; 95 % CI 1.2, 5.8), if the patient's relatives was not given a possibility to communicate with a doctor (OR 4.3; 95 % CI 1.7, 11.0), or such this possibility was limited (OR 4.8; 95 % CI 1.9; 12.2).