Article

The objective of this study was to assess the relationships between patient experiences and two
overall evaluations - satisfaction and service quality - in outpatient
rehabilitation settings. Design: A cross-sectional, self-reported survey carried
out in the year 2009. Setting: Three outpatient rehabilitation units belonging to
Spanish hospitals located in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. Subjects: Four
hundred and sixty-five outpatients (response rate 90%) mean age 39.4 (SD = 11.9)
years. Main measures: Self-reported experiences on aspects of care, participants'
perception of service quality, satisfaction with care, socio-demographic and
health characteristics. Results: Satisfaction and service quality were highly
correlated (rho = 0.72, P< 0.001). Two multivariate logistic regression models
using satisfaction and service quality (with adjusted R (2) 31.5% and 37.1%,
respectively) indicated that patients' experiences and global rating of health
improvement have more effect on those evaluations than socio-demographic
characteristics. Mean satisfaction was 8.9 (SD = 1.2), and 88% of respondents
described high service quality. However, nearly 25% of the respondents who
reported high-quality evaluations also indicated a problem score of more than 50%
in almost all aspects of care studied. Conclusions: Satisfaction and service
quality provide a poor indicator of patients' experiences. Both are two proxies
but distinct constructs in rehabilitation care. Besides, not all problems
encountered by patients are equally important to them.

Langue : ANGLAIS