Ali Modabber, Habib Jalilian, Behnam Gholizadeh, Esmaeil Mousavi Asl, Farzad Faraji-Khiavi,
Volume 24, Issue 2 (9-2025)
Abstract
Background and purpose: Ensuring continuous access to healthcare services is critical for patients with hypertension, particularly during pandemics and public health crises. This study aimed to evaluate the resilience of service delivery by Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) to hypertensive patients during such emergencies.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 across 10 PHCs in Markazi Province, Iran. A total of 250 patients with hypertension were recruited using a systematic random sampling method. Data were collected using a researcher-designed questionnaire assessing four dimensions of resilience: quality, accessibility, continuity, and coordination. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression in SPSS software (version 24).
Results: The overall service resilience score was 2.95 (±0.32), indicating a "relatively weak" level of resilience. The mean scores for the dimensions were: Accessibility 3.08 (±0.28), Coordination 3.03 (±0.76), Quality 2.93 (±0.41), and Continuity 2.88 (±0.35). Multiple regression analysis revealed that these four dimensions collectively explained 96.1% of the variance in service resilience. Accessibility (β = 0.478) was the strongest predictor, followed by Quality (β = 0.379), Continuity (β = 0.352), and Coordination (β = 0.178).
Conclusion: The resilience of services provided by PHCs to hypertensive patients during pandemics was assessed as suboptimal. These findings highlight an urgent need for strategic operational planning by health policymakers. Developing protocols to ensure service continuity and expanding infrastructure for remote care (telemedicine) are recommended as key priorities to enhance system resilience.
