Patient Expectations, Satisfaction and Perceptions of Specialization in Family Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Health Literacy Perspective in Türkiye.

Background/

Objectives

Patient expectations, satisfaction, and perceptions of specialization in family medicine are critical to improving primary care, and health literacy (HL) shapes patients' engagement with health information. This study assessed these domains and their relationship with HL using a validated scale.

Methods

In this single-center, prospective, cross-sectional survey, 370 adult patients visiting a Family Health Center in Eskişehir, Türkiye, between March and May 2025 were randomly selected after providing informed consent under ethical approval. Expectations, satisfaction, and perceptions of family medicine specialization were assessed using a study-specific structured questionnaire, while HL was measured with the validated Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32).

Results

Participants had a mean age of 39.35 ± 12.83 years, and 51.9% were female. The mean THLS-32 score was 31.03 ± 10.94, with 60.3% being classified as having inadequate or problematic-limited HL. In unadjusted analyses, HL differed significantly by sex (p = 0.004), education (p < 0.001), marital status (p = 0.022), occupation (p = 0.001, omnibus test across groups), and medication use (p = 0.026) and correlated negatively with age (rho = -0.315, p < 0.001); in the adjusted model, sex, education, age, and worker occupation remained independently associated with HL, while marital status and medication use did not. Higher HL was associated with a lower likelihood of viewing hospital physicians as superior to primary care doctors (p < 0.001), fewer unnecessary antibiotic requests (p = 0.030), and a greater preference for comprehensive examinations (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

HL was significantly associated with patient expectations, satisfaction, and perceptions of specialization in family medicine. Enhancing HL through educational interventions and patient-centered communication could improve primary care effectiveness and physician-patient relationships.