Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)
Published on: January 27, 2010
A simple tool to measure patient perceptions of operative birth
D Siassakos1, J Clark, T Sibanda
1Women's Health, Chilterns, Southmead Hospital, Westbury on Trym, BS10 5NB, Bristol, UK. jsiasakos@gmail.com
Objective:
To assess the feasibility and validity of a maternal satisfaction measurement tool, the SaFE study Patient Perception Score (PPS), after operative delivery.
Design:
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting:
A large maternity unit in England.
Sample:
150 women who had had an operative birth.
Methods:
We recruited women within 24 hours of birth and quantified their satisfaction with two questionnaires: PPS, and the Mackey Childbirth Satisfaction Rating Scale (CSRS; modified).
Main Outcome Measures:
Participation rate to determine feasibility; Cronbach's alpha as measure of internal consistency; PPS satisfaction scores for groups of accoucheurs of different seniority to assess construct validity; correlation coefficient of PPS scores with total scores from the CSRS questionnaire to establish criterion validity.
Results:
Participation rate approached 85%. We observed high scores for most births except a few outliers. Internal consistency of the PPS was high (Cronbach's alpha=0.83). Total PPS scores correlated strongly with total CSRS scores (Spearman's r=0.64, P<0.001).
Conclusions:
The PPS is a simple and valid tool for patient-centred assessments. High scores were observed for most births but there were a small minority of accoucheurs who consistently scored poorly and these data could be used during appraisal and training.
