Development of a Russian satisfaction with Prenatal Care Scale

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality
• Patient Experience Research
• Health Services Management

Background:

• Patient satisfaction is a critical indicator of healthcare quality.
• Growing emphasis on accountability and the patient as consumer drives interest in satisfaction studies.
• Limited research exists on patient satisfaction with prenatal care, particularly regarding measurement tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a reliable and valid scale for measuring satisfaction with prenatal care services.
• To adapt Aday and Andersen's Theoretical Framework (1974) for prenatal care satisfaction in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• To provide a foundation for future reliability and validity testing in the United States.

Main Methods:

• Convenience sampling of 397 women with uncomplicated pregnancies and normal deliveries (86% response rate).
• Utilized content, construct, and predictive validity testing.
• Assessed reliability using Cronbach's alpha.

Main Results:

• The developed scale demonstrated adequate and theoretical soundness for measuring prenatal care satisfaction in Russia.
• Russian women identified two primary satisfaction dimensions, not the six hypothesized.
• The identified dimensions were convenience and the doctor's behavior.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully developed a valid and reliable patient satisfaction scale for prenatal care in Russia.
• Findings suggest cultural or contextual factors influence the perception of prenatal care quality.
• The identified dimensions of convenience and doctor's behavior offer targeted areas for improving prenatal care services.