Hospital emergency departments are critical healthcare units that manage urgent conditions and save lives. Service quality in emergency care is directly linked to patient satisfaction. This study aimed to assess service quality in the emergency departments of teaching hospitals affiliated with Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, identifying strengths and weaknesses to inform strategies for improving performance.
This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in August–September 2024 with 420 convenience sampling patients from 3 emergency departments affiliated with Maragheh University of Medical Sciences. Inclusion criteria were being over 18 years old, presenting during the researcher’s shift and consenting to participate. Service quality was measured using the 49-item SERVQUAL questionnaire, covering demographics, expectations and perceptions. Data from 304 complete questionnaires were analyzed using Excel and SPSS.
Analysis revealed most emergency department visitors were female (65.1%) and under 30 years old (31.9%). The highest satisfaction was with responsiveness (gap: 0.511), while reliability scored the lowest (gap: 1.779). Satisfaction levels correlated significantly with education and mode of arrival; patients with associate degrees reported the highest satisfaction, and those with doctoral degrees the lowest. Patients arriving by ambulance were most satisfied, while those arriving alone were least satisfied.
This study extends SERVQUAL application to mid-sized, resource-constrained teaching hospitals in Iran. Unlike previous descriptive gap analyses, we identify specific operational determinants – including crowding patterns, staff allocation issues and physical capacity limitations – behind the significant reliability gap (−1.779). The findings provide hospital administrators with contextualized, actionable strategies for emergency care quality improvement in similar resource-limited settings worldwide.
