RESUMEN
Little research in Brazil has focused on the quality of care following unsafe abortion. This article presents the first step in the development of an instrument to assess hospital care provided by the Brazilian Unified National Health System in three cities of Brazil. Along with related criteria, four key dimensions of care were defined: wellcome and guidance, technical quality of care, continuity of care, and supplies and physical environment. The authors performed a cross-cultural adaptation of a set of items proposed by the World Health Organization. Following an assessment of the dimensions and criteria not captured by this set, the researchers decided to adapt questions from related studies and to add others developed by the research team itself. The questionnaire was pretested in 52 patients from three cities to assess the acceptance, understanding, and time of application and to make final adjustments. The instrument totaled 55 items organized according to different stages of care. Its expanded use depends on subsequent psychometric assessments, currently underway.