User satisfaction with the secondary dental care services: Is there an association between structure and work process?

Objective: To assess the association between user satisfaction in relation to secondary dental care services and the structure and process of Brazilian Dental Specialty Centers (CEO, in Portuguese).

Methods: This study used nationwide secondary data from two CEO evaluation cycles. Ten users from each CEO answered questions on the self-perception of healthcare quality and satisfaction with health services. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify subgroups of satisfied and dissatisfied users (outcome). The CEO structure included equipment, supplies, instruments, ambience and type of CEO (type I, II or III, according to the number of dental chairs and dental professionals). The work process referred to the planning/monitoring of actions, collaborative care, characteristics of the demand for medical care /the organization of scheduling, and continuing education for employees. Covariables concerned user profiles. A multilevel logistic regression model was used (p-value <.05).

Results: Seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven users in 794 CEOs, together with 10056 users in 911 CEOs, participated in the 1st and 2nd evaluation cycles, and satisfied users corresponded to 85.3% and 87.1%, respectively. In both cycles, the CEO's structural characteristics explained most of the variance in satisfaction. CEOs with more favourable structural characteristics showed higher satisfaction. Users from CEOs, type II and III, and those who received dental care where there was an interruption of services due to a lack of equipment or instruments reported a lower level of satisfaction. CEOs that organize their demand through referrals received from primary care dentists who have participated in continuing education actions for dental professionals presented a higher frequency of satisfied users.

Conclusions: Characteristics of the process and structure were associated with user satisfaction, but a quality of care was perceived by users, mainly due to structural characteristics.