Table 4

Distribution of quality of the assistance perceived by patients in the 3 Italian areas
Item
 Total responders
 North
 Centre
 South
 p

No
 %
 No
 %
 No
 %
 No
 %
Clinic accessibility
Bad
 1813
 92.8
 50
 7.5
 48
 8.5
 134
 22.9
 < 0.0001
Poor

66
 9.9
 109
 19.4
 115
 19.7
Good

289
 43.4
 229
 40.7
 236
 40.4
Very good

261
 39.2
 117
 31.4
 99
 17.0
Routine visits every
15 days
 1792
 91.7
 36
 5.5
 25
 4.4
 36
 6.3
 < 0.0001
30 days

197
 30.1
 84
 14.9
 100
 17.5
2–4 months

187
 28.6
 199
 35.2
 146
 25.4
5–7 months

117
 17.9
 140
 24.8
 125
 21.8
1 year

117
 17.9
 117
 20.7
 166
 29.0
Length of time at the same clinic
< 6 months
 1792
 91.7
 158
 23.4
 111
 19.8
 110
 19.8
 0.01
12 months

136
 20.1
 98
 17.5
 75
 13.4
18 months

112
 16.6
 78
 13.9
 84
 15.1
24 months

69
 10.2
 100
 17.9
 116
 20.8
30 months

49
 7.3
 42
 7.5
 36
 6.5
> 30 months

151
 22.4
 131
 23.4
 136
 24.4
Time (minutes) spent in the waiting room
< 15'
 1856
 95.0
 194
 28.5
 113
 19.6
 138
 23.0
 < 0.0001
15–30'

316
 46.5
 249
 43.2
 184
 30.7
35–60'

139
 20.4
 114
 19.8
 153
 25.5
> 60

31
 4.6
 100
 17.4
 125
 20.8
Quality of the time spent in the waiting room
Unacceptable
 1834
 93.9
 28
 4.2
 68
 12.0
 119
 20.1
 < 0.0001
Poor

84
 12.4
 120
 21.2
 128
 21.7
Good

439
 64.8
 271
 47.9
 290
 49.1
Very good

126
 18.6
 107
 18.9
 54
 9.1
Confidentiality and privacy of the clinic personnel
Poor
 1873
 95.9
 34
 4.9
 101
 17.2
 149
 25.0
 < 0.0001
Good

293
 42.5
 236
 40.1
 259
 43.5
Very good

362
 52.6
 251
 42.7
 188
 31.5
Helpfulness and courtesy of the clinic personnel
Excellent
 1868
 95.4
 326
 47.0
 261
 44.8
 177
 29.9
 < 0.0001
Good

306
 44.1
 194
 33.3
 196
 33.2
Sufficient

49
 7.1
 103
 17.7
 126
 21.3
Poor

13
 1.8
 25
 4.2
 92
 15.6
Overall level of services offered by the public health system
Unsatisfactory
 1831
 93.7
 36
 5.2
 105
 18.4
 165
 28.8
 < 0.0001
Satisfactory

334
 48.6
 259
 45.4
 267
 46.5
Very good

317
 46.2
 306
 36.2
 142
 24.7

Altobelli et al. BMC Public Health 2007 7:59   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-7-59