Abstract
BackgroundIn addition to patient evaluations, caregiver evaluations and experiences are important indicators of the quality of health services. The aim of this study was to examine determinants of caregiver satisfaction with and perceived benefit of child neurodevelopmental assessment in neuropaediatric clinics.MethodsThe study was conducted among caregivers of children and adolescents aged 4–18 years (N = 330) referred for neurodevelopmental assessment in two neuropaediatric clinics in the specialised health service in Northern Norway. The Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ) for child psychiatric outpatient patients was distributed to caregivers immediately following the assessment, and two of its items were used as measurements of caregiver satisfaction with and perceived benefit of the assessment.ResultsCaregiver satisfaction with the assessment was correlated with a better general level of function in the child, higher socioeconomic status, Norwegian mother tongue, referral from a specialist, and the respondent being a woman. Higher perceived benefit of the assessment was correlated with higher socioeconomic status, Norwegian mother tongue, and younger age of the child. Regression analysis revealed that caregivers’ perception that the assessment was suited to their child’s situation and that there was good cooperation with other public services (e.g., primary care and social/educational services) seemed more fundamental to caregiver satisfaction with neuropaediatric clinics’ services than any background variable. Younger age of the child, in addition to caregivers’ perception that the assessment was suited to their child and receiving sufficient information about the child’s diagnosis/afflictions, were essential to the perceived benefit of the assessment.ConclusionsCaregiver satisfaction with child neurodevelopmental assessment in neuropaediatric clinics partly depends on variables not related to the assessment experience per se. An assessment that was suited to the child, good cooperation with other public services such as primary health care and social/educational services, and giving sufficient information about the child’s diagnosis are essential to an overall positive caregiver evaluation of neurodevelopmental assessments.
Highlights
In addition to patient evaluations, caregiver evaluations and experiences are important indicators of the quality of health services
There were no significant differences in service or child or characteristics between caregivers who completed the Generic Short Patient Experiences Questionnaire (GS-PEQ) and those who did not
The GS-PEQ contains questions related to a wide spectrum of specific experiences that explained significant proportions of the variation in satisfaction and perceived benefit of the assessment in our study
Summary
In addition to patient evaluations, caregiver evaluations and experiences are important indicators of the quality of health services. Patient satisfaction is a complex concept that depends on several variables, such as social standards, context, needs, values, previous experiences, future expectations, information, education, health, medical care, treatment, and psychological factors [2, 11,12,13]. Collecting information about specific experiences with concrete aspects of health services is a more valid measure of satisfaction, and easier to interpret than satisfaction ratings [16]. Both user experiences and user satisfaction are increasingly employed as quality indicators in the health care sector [17, 18]. We have license to use the DAWBA including the Everyday Feeling Questionnaire through the Youth in Mind: https://youthinmind.com/
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