Quality of the contraceptive service structure: A pilot study in Finnish health centre organisations

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the quality of the contraceptive service structure in health centre organisations (HCOs) in western Finland and to establish whether the characteristics of the HCOs are associated with the quality measured.

Methods Survey data were collected from all HCOs in a university hospital area in western Finland (N = 63). Quality was evaluated using a score of ten indicators. Associations between the score and the characteristics of the HCOs were studied using rank correlation analysis and a multivariate ordered logit model.

Results Among 51 HCOs yielding complete data for the evaluation, the quality score ranged from 3 to 10, the mean being 5.8. From 25 variables studied, ‘a chief nursing officer or leading nurse engaged in the HCO’ (p = 0.001) and ‘an appointed person responsible for management of health promotion’ (p = 0.006) were found to be associated with a good score in the rank correlation analysis, and they also remained significant in multivariate analysis (Odds Ratio [OR] = 11.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3–56.5 and OR = 5.9, 95% CI 1.6–21.5, respectively).

Conclusions In the majority of the HCOs involved, the quality of service structure was rated average, but there was much variation between the HCOs. The results of the multivariate analysis emphasise the importance of good management of services.

KEY WORDS:

• Contraception
• Contraceptive services
• Primary health care
• Quality
• Quality indicators
• Service structure

Acknowledgements

Tuire Sannisto and Elise Kosunen received funding from the Academy of Finland (the Research Programme on Health Service Research), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and the Pirkanmaa Hospital District (Competitive Research Funding). The authors would like to thank MA Riitta-Liisa Haukilahti for her assistance in processing the data.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the contents and writing of the paper.