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KMID : 0355420090330030461
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Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health
2009 Volume.33 No. 3 p.461 ~ p.473
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Service quality of dental institutes measured by SERVQUAL model
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Son So-Hyun
Kwon Young-Dae
Choi In-Young
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Abstract
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Objectives: The quality of service becomes a crucial factor in the dental health care field. This study examined the expectations and perceptions of patients regarding the dental service quality, as well as the difference between expectations and perceptions.
Methods: The survey measuring the expectations and perceptions of dental service was carried out on 480 patients from 16 dental institutes in the Seoul metropolitan area. SERVQUAL measurement included five dimensions: ‘tangible’, ‘reliability’, ‘responsiveness’, ‘assurance’, and ‘empathy’.
Results: Validity and reliability tests were conducted to combine the reliability and responsiveness. The modified SERVQAUL model including four dimensions was analyzed using a t-test and ANOVA to examine the quality gap between expectations and perceptions. The tangible aspect was perceived to have higher perception than their expectations of the dental service provided, and the reliability and responsiveness dimensions had higher expectations than perceptions. In addition, the gap between perception and expectation was significantly different in some demographic and institute groups.
Conclusion: These results showed that dental service is perceived with higher service quality in the tangible characteristics compared to other dimensions. The intangible characteristics also play an important role in gaining positive perception in the dental services. Therefore, in addition to the tangible characteristics, the intangible dimension, particularly reliability and responsiveness, should be improved.
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KEYWORD
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dental service quality, SERVQUAL
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