Forensic and civil psychiatric inpatients: development of the inpatient satisfaction questionnaire

The present study reports on the development of a measure designed to assess satisfaction with service among civil and forensic psychiatric inpatients. Survey items drawn from a review of existing measures were administered to 427 forensic and 416 civil male psychiatric inpatients. In an effort to develop a reliable and valid measure, a rigorous test development procedure was undertaken involving item and principal components analyses followed by a confirmatory factor analysis of the remaining items. For forensic inpatients, a 14-item questionnaire (Forensic Inpatient Satisfaction Questionnaire; F-ISQ) emerged that addressed four domains of satisfaction: Medication and Treatment, Physical Environment, Telephone Access, and Unit Rules and Procedures. For civil inpatients, an 11-item questionnaire (Civil Inpatient Satisfaction Questionnaire; C-ISQ) included two domains of satisfaction: Needs and Opportunities and Food and Comfort. Strong internal reliability and concurrent validity with other established measures of patient satisfaction were demonstrated.