Adherence to Patient Rights from Perspectives of Pregnant Women in Tabriz Metropolitan Health Centers in 2011

Effectiveness of health services depends on appropriate communication and active participation of health service providers/receivers. Patients’ and care providers’ rights should be mentioned in health centers. This mutual commitment guarantees population health in the highest levels. This study aimed to assess the degree of adherence to patient rights from the perspectives of pregnant women in health centeres in Tabriz. In this cross-sectional study, 185 pregnant women were recruited at the 9th month of pregnancy from 40 health centers and health posts in Tabriz in 2010-11. A range of 3-8 individuals were selected randomly from each health center and health post. Data was collected using a self-structured valid and reliable questionnaire. Adherence of care providers to the patients’ rights were measured among the women. The questionnaire measured 12 aspects of 4 main domains of the Iranian Patient Rights Charter with scales from "0 = poor performance" to "10 = good performance". Data were analyzed in the SPSS. From the perspectives of pregnant women, performance of the health care providers in all domains was good or fair. Of 12 aspects of patients rights, confidentiality, privacy, accessibility and continuity had the highest performance scores (≥9). The aspects of communication, prompt attention, basic amenities and autonomy had moderate scores (7-8.99); and the right of choosing care provider, safety, dignity and providing necessary information and education had the lowest performance scores (<7). There were no complain management system in the health centers. Regarding importance of patient rights during pregnancy, health centers and health posts should pay more attention to the aspects with poor performance and should develop a complaint management system in health care centers.