Percepción de los usuarios sobre la calidad del servicio brindado en el centro de salud de Piñas, el Oro - Ecuador, marzo-agosto 2025

Abstract

Background: Evaluating the quality of health services is essential to ensuring the efficiency of the system and user satisfaction. In the context of primary care, understanding user perceptions allows for the identification of opportunities for improvement and the strengthening of local health management. Objective: To analyze users’ perceptions of the quality of service provided at the Piñas Health Center in the province of El Oro, in relation to sociodemographic characteristics, during the period from March to August 2025, using the “SERVQUAL” survey. Methodology: A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study was conducted at a primary care center in the Piñas canton. The sample consisted of 211 users attending consultations or related activities, selected through simple random sampling. The SERVQUAL questionnaire was used to collect information on perceived quality. The surveys were administered in paper format and subsequently analyzed using SPSS through descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. Results: A total of 125 women (59.2 %) and 86 men (40.8 %) participated, most of whom had a high school education (64 %) and were between the ages of 20 and 29 (31.8 %). 91.9 % rated the care as good or excellent. No statistically significant association was found between sociodemographic variables and perceived quality (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The favorable perception among users reflects a positive evaluation of the service, linked to the overall quality observed across the SERVQUAL dimensions, indicating that expectations are adequately met in the context of primary care. Keywords: quality, healthcare services, perception, users