Scale to measure patient satisfaction with physical therapy

Patient satisfaction can be one indicator of quality of care. In this study, a patient satisfaction questionnaire for physical therapy was developed.

The subjects were a consecutive sample of 1,024 patients who received physical therapy between January and March 1999 at a teaching hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.

A cross-sectional mail survey was conducted in which a structured questionnaire measuring patient satisfaction with various aspects of physical therapy followed by open-ended questions was sent to the subjects.

Overall, 528 of 1,024 patients (52%) responded (patient demographics for 501 respondents who provided demographic data: mean years of age=58.6, SD=18.9, range=15-95; 258 men, 243 women). Factor analysis was used to identify main domains of satisfaction, and a scale was constructed to measure satisfaction with each dimension: treatment subscale (5 items), admission subscale (3 items), logistics subscale (4 items), and a global assessment subscale (2 items). All subscales had good acceptability and small floor and ceiling effects. Internal consistency coefficients varied between.77 and.90, indicating good reliability for all subscales. Scale validity was supported by a logical grouping of items into subscales, according to their content, and by correlations of satisfaction scores with the patient's intention to recommend the facility and with the number of positive and negative comments to open-ended questions. Younger patients were less satisfied than older patients for 2 of the subscales (admission and logistics).

The 14-item instrument is a promising tool for the evaluation of patient satisfaction with physical therapy in both inpatients and outpatients.