Measuring the association of perceived service quality and health-related quality of life: The case of a Portuguese long-term care unit

• Autor(a) principal: Leal, Ana Sofia Anes
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/18667
• topic: Service quality; Health-related quality of life; EQ-5D; Long-term care; Qualidade em saúde; Rede Nacional de Cuidados Continuados Integrados -- RNCCI; Portugal

Demand in the healthcare sector has been growing and currently represents a highly competitive market with increasingly demanding patients. Demographic changes in the Portuguese context are creating significant challenges to this sector and service quality may be a paramount competitive factor for the success of these organisations. The goal of this dissertation is to understand the perceived service quality and health-related quality of life from the perspective of patients undergoing long-term care treatments. Based on a case study approach, and aiming to achieve the proposed goal, two questionnaires were applied to patients: one based on the SERVPERF instrument, proposed by Cronin and Taylor (1992), and a second one consisting of the EQ-5D-3L, proposed by the EuroQol Group (1990). The latter was applied at two different moments, at the beginning of the treatment and 30 days after. During the second data collection moment, the SERVPERF based instrument was also applied. This investigation not only intended to study the existence of a relationship between perceived service quality and health-related quality of life but also to analyse patients’ satisfaction and the possible differences between patients under public and private networks at the same unit. Results showed good reliability of the SERVPERF dimensions and the Satisfaction construct. It was identified that some patients’ characteristics – residence and living arrangement – have influence in the perceived service quality and patients’ satisfaction. It was also identified that there is a positive and significant relationship between perceived service quality and the patients’ satisfaction. When evaluating the association with the perceived service quality and the health-related quality of life, it was disclosed that there is a slight relationship but non-significant between them. As no significant differences were found regarding the perceptions of patients among different networks (public or private), it is possible to state that the unit analysed does not differentiate the service supplied to patients based on where they come from (network).