[Patient satisfaction in 4 hospitals of the Basque Health Service]

To compare patient satisfaction in 4 acute hospitals.

The sample was composed of individuals admitted to 4 hospitals in the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza, Spain) in January and February 2002. Six hundred and fifty patients were selected from each hospital and were sent a satisfaction questionnaire composed of 34 items summarized in 6 factors. Independent scores for each factor were created. Sociodemographic variables, those related to admission, as well as some global questions and the average scores of the factors were compared among the 4 hospitals.

Differences between the 4 hospitals were found in age, the number of previous admissions, type of service, length of hospital stay, and the questions evaluating satisfaction with waiting time between users' arrival at the hospital and admission. Although the degree of satisfaction was high, differences were detected depending on the factor and the hospital. Thus, "information", "dealings with staff" and "comfort" were rated more highly by users of hospital 3 than by those of hospital 1. The results observed in the univariate analysis changed only slightly in the multivariate models.

The questionnaire used allowed comparable results to be obtained among the 4 hospitals participating in this study and identified areas of excellence and areas requiring improvement in each of the centers.