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The MedRisk Instrument for Measuring Patient Satisfaction With Physical Therapy Care: a psychometric analysis.
Paul Beattie1, Christine Turner, Marsha Dowda
1Department of Exercise Science, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. pbeattie@gwm.sc.edu
The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy
|March 10, 2005
Summary
The MedRisk Instrument for Measuring Patient Satisfaction With Physical Therapy Care (MRPS) effectively distinguishes between patient satisfaction with internal and external factors. This validated tool offers reliable insights into physical therapy care quality.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Patient satisfaction is crucial in healthcare, with self-report measures aiding assessment.
- The MedRisk Instrument for Measuring Patient Satisfaction With Physical Therapy Care (MRPS) was previously suggested to have a two-factor structure: internal (patient-therapist interaction) and external (non-therapist factors).
- Assessing discriminant validity is key to understanding how well a measure differentiates between distinct constructs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate the MedRisk Instrument for Measuring Patient Satisfaction With Physical Therapy Care (MRPS) for differentiating patient satisfaction with internal and external factors.
- To evaluate the psychometric properties of the MRPS in a large patient sample.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional survey involving 1,449 adult patients completing the MRPS post-outpatient physical therapy.
- Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the discriminant validity of the proposed two-factor model (internal and external factors).
- Reliability was assessed using the standard error of measurement (SEM), and concurrent validity was evaluated by correlating MRPS factors with global satisfaction measures.
Main Results:
- Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a strong fit for both the 7-item internal factor and the 3-item external factor.
- The MRPS demonstrated low measurement error, with SEM values of 0.19 for the internal factor and 0.24 for the external factor.
- Both internal (r = 0.83, 0.80) and external (r = 0.71, 0.71) factors showed high, significant correlations with global satisfaction measures, as did individual items.
Conclusions:
- The study provides evidence for the discriminant and concurrent validity of the two-factor solution of the MRPS.
- The validated MRPS yields reliable measures that effectively distinguish between internal and external factors influencing patient satisfaction in physical therapy.
- Patient-therapist interaction and information exchange are critical for satisfaction; generalizability to non-completers or other settings requires further study.
