Using the Delphi technique to select items for use in assessing patients' satisfaction with dysphagia services

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Patient Experience Research
• Healthcare Quality Assessment

Background:

• Dysphagia services require effective patient satisfaction assessment.
• Existing tools may not fully capture patient perspectives.
• Identifying key assessment areas is crucial for service improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop survey items for assessing patient satisfaction with dysphagia services.
• To identify the most important factors influencing patient satisfaction in dysphagia care.
• To establish a reliable instrument for evaluating dysphagia service quality.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Delphi technique for expert consensus.
• A panel of speech-language pathologists rated 105 potential survey items.
• Items were evaluated based on perceived importance for patient satisfaction assessment.

Main Results:

• 45 survey items were rated as "very important" by the expert panel.
• Key themes identified were clinician conduct, characteristics, and information provision.
• No "very important" items related to service accessibility or treatment environment quality were selected.

Conclusions:

• The developed survey items prioritize clinician-patient interactions and communication.
• Future research should consider incorporating accessibility and environment factors.
• The findings provide a foundation for a validated patient satisfaction survey in dysphagia care.