Evaluation of the satisfaction of physical therapy patients in outpatient care

ABSTRACT Satisfaction is determined by the patient’s reaction to the service received, acting as a sensitive indicator of quality in medical care. The goal of this study was to compare the satisfaction of patients receiving outpatient physical therapy treatment in public clinics (PC), private healthcare clinics (PHC) and school clinics (SC). A total of 382 patients aged over 18 years old who had been to at least five appointments were divided into three groups. A questionnaire containing questions about sociodemographic data and overall satisfaction as well as satisfaction with the patient-therapist relationship, access to and support offered by the team, convenience and the environment was used. The majority of the patients was female (68.6%), their mean age being 52.0 years old. In the comparison of the services, the school clinic showed greater satisfaction rates than the public clinics in relation to the support team, convenience and physical environment; and greater satisfaction rates than the private healthcare clinics in relation the therapist-patient relationship and overall satisfaction. The private healthcare clinics were better evaluated than the public clinics in relation to convenience and physical environment. The correlation analysis between overall satisfaction and each variable showed good and moderate values for the therapist-patient relationship variable and the lowest values for the convenience variable. The questionnaire had good internal consistency and coherence for the three services (α≥0.94). These results represent an important indicator of the patients’ perception about the services investigated, allowing the proper implementation of public, private and academic policies aimed at the improvement of the quality of physical therapy care.

摘要：患者对所接受服务的反应决定了其满意度，而满意度是医疗服务质量的敏感评价指标。本研究旨在对比在公立诊所（public clinics, PC）、私立医疗诊所（private healthcare clinics, PHC）及校办诊所（school clinics, SC）接受门诊物理治疗的患者的满意度情况。本研究共纳入382名年满18周岁、至少完成5次就诊的患者，将其分为三组。本研究采用了一份包含社会人口学资料、总体满意度，以及对患者-治疗师关系、团队提供的支持与就诊可及性、便利性与就医环境的满意度相关问题的调查问卷。受试者中女性占比68.6%，平均年龄为52.0岁。在不同服务机构的满意度对比中，校办诊所的支持团队、便利性与实体环境满意度均高于公立诊所；其患者-治疗师关系满意度与总体满意度均高于私立医疗诊所。私立医疗诊所的便利性与实体环境评分优于公立诊所。总体满意度与各变量的相关性分析结果显示，患者-治疗师关系变量呈良好至中等程度的相关，便利性变量的相关系数最低。三类服务机构对应的调查问卷均具有良好的内部一致性与连贯性，α≥0.94。本研究结果可反映患者对所调研医疗服务的感知情况，可为制定旨在提升物理治疗服务质量的公立、私立及院校相关政策提供科学依据。