Developing a Persian inpatient satisfaction questionnaire.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Experience Measurement
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Assessing patient satisfaction is crucial for meaningful healthcare evaluation.
• Valid and reliable instruments are needed to measure in-patient satisfaction in Iran.
• Existing measures may not adequately capture the nuances of Iranian hospital services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a Persian-language questionnaire for assessing in-patient satisfaction.
• To provide a reliable and valid tool for evaluating patient experiences in Iranian medical and surgical services.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey of 400 randomly selected patients from six Tehran hospitals.
• Factor analysis was employed to assess construct validity and inter-item reliability.
• Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated for each identified dimension.

Main Results:

• Seven dimensions of patient satisfaction were identified: communication, nursing care, convenience, visitors, cleanliness, costs, and general satisfaction.
• These dimensions explained 60% of the variance in patient satisfaction.
• High internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.8) was found for most dimensions, indicating good reliability.

Conclusions:

• The developed Persian questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing in-patient satisfaction with hospital services in Iran.
• High reported satisfaction levels should be interpreted cautiously, necessitating supplementary performance data.
• Further qualitative research is recommended to complement the quantitative findings.