Patients' satisfaction with hospital health care: Identifying indicators for people with severe mental disorder

Patients' perception of psychiatric healthcare is a critical indicator in measuring service quality. The aim of the study was to determine patient's level of satisfaction with the quality of health care delivered at the inpatient departments, and to identify the service quality factors that were important to patients.

The Satisfaction with Psychiatry Care Questionnaire-22 was administered to 125 consecutive inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in a stable condition. Sociodemographic and background variables, illness and symptom severity, insight, social anhedonia, self-esteem, perceived social support, and satisfaction with quality of life were collected.

Although the participants generally expressed satisfaction with the inpatient services, they indicated that the weakest aspects of the service were in the domains of 'personal experience', 'information' and 'activity'. Women were significantly more dissatisfied than men with 'staff', 'care', and by general satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis revealed that satisfaction with hospital health care was associated with five indicators: insight, satisfaction with physical health, self-efficacy, family support, and social anhedonia.

Personality related factors rather than psychopathological symptoms were associated with a satisfaction with care of admitted patients with severe mental illness. These factors could be targets for interventions aimed to improve treatment and hospital services.