Customer Quality of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease In Tabriz, 1391

Background and objectives: Customer Quality is one of the most important dimensions of quality in health care which refers to service receiver's knowledge, attitude and skills that play effective role in treatment process. This study is aimed at assessing customer quality score in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Tabriz city in 2012. Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was conducted with the participation of 94 Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients who referred to Tabriz Imam Reza Hospital and Golgasht clinic. Customer Quality was measured using a questionnaire with 19 items which its validity was confirmed by 10 experts and its reliability was reviewed using Cronbach's alpha index (α =0.78). Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS17. Results: The results illustrated that average score of customer quality among patients with inflammatory bowel disease is 70.63 (±9.67). All the participants achieved stage 1 scores of Customer Quality in self-management but only 11.7% reported highest customer quality score and were able to continue their self-care in high pressure circumstances such as stress and financial problems. Also, there was a significant relation between customer quality score and patient’s education (P-value=0.05), so that by having higher education level, the customer quality score was increased as well. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that customer quality status in assessed patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease is partially acceptable, but major problems in some areas are evident and require more attention of health care managers and policy makers. ​