Evaluation of the Quality of Health Care Delivery in Cameroon From the Client Perspective (Health districts of Mfou, Bafang and Nkongsamba)

Context After the ICPD, a good number of African countries have given priority to the improvement of the access of women to obstetrical care and to the raising of their quality but, contrary to English-speaking African countries, in most of French-speaking ones, studies reporting on the supply capacity of obstetrical care services to satisfy qualitatively and quantitatively the needs of women are rare and yet they are very necessary to identify problems. Objective The objective of the study is to evaluate the quality of health care delivery in Cameroon from the client perspective. Data We used quantitative data from a survey carried out by the Institute for Training and Research in Demography (IFORD) in Cameroon in 2005-2006. The participants were women who used health care delivery during the last 6 months preceding the survey. Statistical methods The above-mentioned data were analyzed using cross-tabulations statistical technique to highlight the quality of health care delivery according to the type of health centers (public, laic or confessional). Results Clients’ satisfaction with the state of rooms used during their physical examinations and the state of labor and delivery rooms and equipments were high in the three health districts studied. The same result was observed in the case of the organization of labor and delivery services, their relationships with health care providers and the answers gave by the last to the questions they asked during their physical examinations. Moreover, it was observed in the Health District of MFOU that most of clients were not informed about the results of their physical examinations and allowed to ask questions to health care providers. Finally, clients’ satisfaction was lower in public health centers than in private ones. Conclusion This study suggests that clients tolerate in the three health districts to receive health care delivery of low-quality.