Indagine sulla percezione della qualità dei servizi sanitari in alcuni Paesi dell'ex blocco sovietico.

The health systems of countries of the Former Soviet Union are all based on Semashko's system, which is no longer active since 1991 when the fall of communism occurred. Post-soviet states have tried to create new healthcare systems that maintain universal access to care. The goal of this descriptive study, conducted from August 2009 to June 2012, was to investigate the perceived quality of healthcare services in selected post-Soviet states. A questionnaire was administered by trained staff, to samples of adult healthcare service users in five countries (Belarus, Moldova, the Baltic States, Romania, and Ukraine), to investigate different aspects of the health care systems in these countries. Results were analysed by gender, profession, age and country of origin. Overall, 470 subjects participated in the study. Perceived quality of healthcare varied among different countries but an overall negative and pessimistic view of the future was identified. Gender, age group and profession were found to be determinants of perceived quality (p <0.05). The observed variations do not seem to be directly explained by the model of healthcare system adopted, rather by respondents' different socioeconomic and demographical standings.