[Clinical validity of our new patient satisfaction questionnaire for allergic rhinitis]

Patient satisfaction is recommended as a parameter to evaluate medical care from the aspect of patient. Currently, we developed a new patient satisfaction questionnaire in allergic rhinitis by means of internationally standardized psychometric validation and reliability studies. Using this questionnaire, we evaluated patient satisfaction with Japanese cedar pollinosis in 2004, who visited our own clinic (JAAC) or patients, who were sampled from the list of a health research company (JSR), in addition of literature data. As a result, there were marked differences between ours and others. The purpose of this study is to elucidate whether or not our questionnaire has a good and reliable clinical validity, and, if yes, why there were marked differences in various studies. The satisfaction (very good plus good) was 94.4% in the JAAC group and 41.2% in the JSR group respectively. We compared the mean scores of each item in questionnaire in both groups, and found higher scores in the majority of items in the former group than the latter group in accordance with difference in satisfaction. This suggested a good clinical validity in questionnaire. In nasal treatment modality, the JAAC group was. characterized by continuous use of combined topical steroid with per oral anti-allergic compound and immunotherapy during whole pollen season, when compared with the JSR group. A persistent contact with patients in immunotherapy plays an important role in establishing good doctor-patient relation and treatment outcome, resulting in increased patient satisfaction.