Patients' satisfaction with dental services provided by a university in Hong Kong

This study was a consumer evaluation of the dental care services provided b y a university dental clinic in I-long Kong which provides dental care to a ll university students and staff and their dependants. The objectives of th is study were to study the consumers' satisfaction with the dental services ; to identify their reasons for not using the dental services; and to compa re the opinions of the students with those of the university staff and thei r spouses. A total of 140 students and 180 staff and their spouses were ran domly selected for this study. The response rates were 100 per cent for stu dents and 77 per cent for staff and their spouses. Results showed that both groups of respondents were satisfied with the quality of dental services p rovided by the university dental clinic. However, they were not satisfied w ith the long waiting time for an appointment. Students who had not attended the university dental clinic commonly stated that they were busy and had n o time for a dental visit. Conversely, many staff and their spouses did not seek care from the university dental clinic because they thought that the fees were high. Although the overall Dental Satisfaction Index (DSI) scores for the students (64.5) and staff and their spouses (65.1) were similar, t here were differences in the aspects of the services with which the two gro up were satisfied or dissatisfied. Thus if the university dental clinic wan ts to implement changes so as to improve consumer satisfaction and utilisat ion, a careful analysis of the specific opinions of its various consumer gr oups is required.