Patient satisfaction with mobile clinic services in a remote rural area of Saudi Arabia/Niveau de satisfaction des patients vis-a-vis des services sanitaires mobiles dans une zone rurale isolee en Arabie saoudite

Mobile clinics have been established in Saudi Arabia to facilitate the equitable delivery of primary health care services in remote and rural areas. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the perceived quality of services provided to villages in the Al-Laith region. The majority of the 176 clients interviewed were satisfied with the working hours and health staff. However, 35.8% viewed the location as unsatisfactory and 20.5% were dissatisfied with the clinic schedule. Overall satisfaction was very high, although the mobile clinics were not viewed as substitutes for primary health care centres. Public awareness of the service needs to be improved and better access and quality of services are important for optimal service provision. Des dispensaires mobiles ont ete crees en Arabie saoudite pour faciliter une prestation equitable de services de soins de sante primaires dans les zones isolees et rurales. Une etude transversale et descriptive a ete realisee afin d'etudier la perception de la qualite des services fournis aux villages de la region d'Al-Laith. La majorite des 176 personnes interrogees etaient satisfaites des horaires et du personnel de sante. Mais 35,8 % d'entre elles consideraient que l'emplacement etait insatisfaisant, de meme que le suivi medical (20,5 % des personnes interrogees). Le taux de satisfaction global etait tres eleve, bien que les services mobiles ne soient pas pergus comme des substituts des centres de soins de sante primaires. Il est necessaire de mieux faire connaTtre cette structure au public ; Amelioration de l'acces aux services et de la qualite de ceux-ci est importante en vue d'une prestation optimale.