Development and evaluation of a new questionnaire for rating patient satisfaction in a balneotherapy and physical therapy outpatient clinic

Abstract

Objective: Patients who are the natural consumers of healthcare services play a critical part in the healthcare system because of their previous experiences in this field. Defining patient satisfaction is a very important factor to rate the health system and healthcare worker performance and to improve of quality. Up to date, many questionnaire models have been used for this purpose. This study was designed to create a questionnaire to rate the patient satisfaction level and to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Material and Methods: A 7-item scale designed to measure the domains of patient satisfaction among patients was developed by the authors in preparation for this study and was field-tested on patients who were given physical therapy and/or balneotherapy for 2 weeks. The study was carried out between 2002 and 2003 for 12 months and after the therapy course was over. Descriptive statistics and estimates of reliability of measurements obtained with the instrument were computed. Reliability and validity were assessed. A total of 304 individuals completed the questionnaire. Results: Questionnaires were distributed to 250 female and 133 male (total 383) patients aged 16-83 years. 304 of 383 patients (%79.4) completed the 7 items of the scale, while 79 patients gave no answer. Reliability of the scale was identified by the Cronbach alpha coefficient. Analysis of the scale revealed that it was highly reliable (Cronbach alpha=0.9390) and structural type of validity was established as well. Conclusion: This scale was designed to rate the satisfaction of those patients who attended half day balneotherapy and/or physical therapy and the results proved that it was highly reliable and structurally valid.