Maternal Satisfaction with Health and Healthcare Services: A Survey in Northern Iran

Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of the quality of health and healthcareservices. Most relevant studies in Iran have been conducted in the nation’s capital, and there is a lack oflarge-scale studies in other regions of this country. In order to help filling this gap, this study was designed toundertake a relatively large-scale assessment of patient satisfaction with health and healthcare systems in Mazandaranprovince situated in northern Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 450 women who referred to health facilitiesin Mazandaran province. A quota random sampling method was adopted. Data were summarized using descriptivestatistical methods. Chi-square and Fisher tests were used to analyze data. A satisfaction rate of 65.5% and 56.8% was identified among the patient with health and healthcareservices, respectively. A significant relationship was found between patients’ satisfaction with health services andtheir age, level of education, status as a homemaker, and number of children. Similarly, patients’ satisfaction withhealthcare services showed a significant relationship with their age and number of children. Our results indicate a gap between maternal satisfaction with health/healthcare services and theideal situation. In addition, this study highlights the need for an in-depth analysis of the nature of relationshipbetween patients’ satisfaction with health/healthcare services and their demographic characteristics to enabledeveloping effective improvement strategies.Keywords: Patient, Satisfaction, Maternal, Health, Healthcare