Validación y aplicabilidad de encuestas SERVQUAL modificadas para medir la satisfacción de usuarios externos en servicios de salud.

Objective: Validate and evaluate the applicability of surveys to measure satisfaction of outpatient consult (EC) and emergency (E) in a public hospital. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study based on the SERVQUAL survey. The variables of the construct after consecutive improvements incorporated the main activities of the care process and quality requirements of outpatients. Content validity was tested with 5 experts; construct validity by factorial analysis, the internal consistence by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and applicability for non-probability sampling in 383 attendants of EC and 384 of E. Results: The factorial analysis showed that 88.9% of the variance of the variables in CE and 92.5% in E, explaining the 5 components or dimensions of quality. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.984 for EC and 0.988 for emergency. The overall satisfaction of outpatients in EC was 46.8% and 52.9% in emergency. Variables with greater dissatisfaction were difficult to access appointments, delay for pharmacy care, for box payments, for SIS module and inappropriate treatment; however, in emergency were deficient improvement or resolution of health problems, poor availability of medicines and delay for pharmacy care, box payments, and admission. Conclusion: The EC and emergency surveys have demonstrated psychometric properties to be considered as valid reliable, and applicable instruments to measure the level of outpatient`s satisfaction and identify the main causes of dissatisfaction for planning improvement projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]