The study of the quality of speech therapy services in the clinic of the Faculty of Rehabilitation of Iran University of Medical Sciences using the SERVQUAL model

Service quality is essential for service delivery. The Speech Therapy Clinic at the Rehabilitation Faculty of Iran University of Medical Sciences is one of the governmental centers providing rehabilitation services. This study aimed to study the service quality of speech therapy services using SERVQUAL model. In this descriptive-analytic stud, conducted in 2016 – 2017, a convenience sampling was used to recruit 59 patients referring to the Speech Therapy Clinic. Service quality was measured using a two-dimensional questionnaire to measure the perceptions and expectations of the patients and calculate the existing gaps between their perceptions and expectations. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. One-sample t-test was used to examine the significance of the gap, and Spearman and Chi-square tests were used to examine the relationship between quantitative and qualitative demographic variables with five dimensions of quality, respectively. Regarding the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the CVI was %0.85 and Cronbach's alpha for the perceptions and expectations were %0.95 and %0.82, in that order. The results indicated a service gap in all five dimensions of quality. The largest and lowest gaps were related to empathy and responsiveness dimensions, respectively. There was no significant relationship between service gap and age, the frequency of visiting the clinic and gender. According to the findings, the Speech Therapy Clinic does not fully meet the expectations of the clients and there is a need to improve the quality of services; therefore, in order to achieve a higher level of service quality, the clinic officials are recommended to reduce the gap between their clients' perceptions and expectations.