Development of an Arabic inpatient satisfaction survey: application in acute medical rehabilitation setting in Saudi Arabia

Ahmed Aboabat,Hazem Qannam

doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2596-2

Abstract

BackgroundIn the management of chronic disease, evidence suggests that satisfied patients exhibit more loyalty to treatment providers and greater adherence to treatment regimens. This is particularly so in the rehabilitation setting. We aimed to develop a reliable and valid Arabic-language survey to objectively measure inpatient satisfaction in medical rehabilitation settings in Saudi Arabia.MethodsThe King Fahad Medical City Rehabilitation Hospital Patient Satisfaction Survey (RH PSS) is a self-administered survey that addresses four domains of rehabilitation care: access, structure, process, and outcomes. The RH PSS was developed through four steps. Step 1: An item-generation process utilizing input from patients, rehabilitation professionals, and the relevant literature. Step 2: Individual interviews and focus groups, conducted for cognitive testing of the survey and to examine content validity. Step 3: Assessment of internal consistency and construct validity. Step 4: Survey implementation wherein factor analysis and reliability and validity testing were conducted. The survey was conducted at an acute inpatient medical rehabilitation hospital in Saudi Arabia. A total of 709 rehabilitation inpatients participated.ResultsThe RH PSS demonstrated reasonable reliability and validity. Cronbach’s alpha for all the RH PSS subscales ranged from 0.81 to 0.89, and 0.96 for the entire survey. Factor analysis showed good correlation of the 33 survey items and the subscales. The RH PSS demonstrated a good level of predictive validity through the high correlation between the global item “intent to recommend” and overall satisfaction (R2 = 0.786, adjusted R2 = 0.783, p = 0.01).ConclusionsThe RH PSS is the first satisfaction survey with reported validity and reliability testing to address inpatient rehabilitation settings in Saudi Arabia. Further research involving multiple sites is recommended for nationwide validation.

Highlights

In the management of chronic disease, evidence suggests that satisfied patients exhibit more loyalty to treatment providers and greater adherence to treatment regimens
Patient satisfaction is vital to the success of rehabilitation for a number of reasons: (i) the active participation of the patient is critical for improvement and learning of new skills; (ii) the full attention of the patient and his/her family are critical for the effective management of chronic disease conditions; and (iii) sustained cooperation of the patient is essential because of the longer duration of rehabilitation compared with
We describe the development of and validity/reliability assessment of the King Fahad Medical City-Rehabilitation Hospital Patient Satisfaction Survey (RH PSS)

Summary

Introduction

In the management of chronic disease, evidence suggests that satisfied patients exhibit more loyalty to treatment providers and greater adherence to treatment regimens. This is so in the rehabilitation setting. The patient satisfaction survey is among the most commonly used outcome measures in the health care industry. The results of these surveys are increasingly considered a primary health care outcome, with results considered an important quality indicator in program reviews, accreditations, and funding [1,2,3,4,5,6]. In the US, 1% of Medicare payments have been linked to hospital quality performance, with one third of this amount based on how well hospitals score for patient satisfaction [9]

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