When Patients' Feelings During Their Hospital Stay Affect Their Level of Experience and Satisfaction with Quality of...

In France, data on patient satisfaction and experience after a hospital stay are collected through the national "e-Satis" program, based on self-administered online questionnaires. The authors aimed to assess patient and hospital stay characteristics associated with the patient's overall experience and level of satisfaction during a hospital stay.

Patients included were aged ≥18 years, hospitalized between 2016 and 2022, for more than 48 hours in a medical, surgical or obstetrical department. An overall experience and satisfaction score was calculated for each patient. Three classes based on quintiles of the study population were defined: (1) "low" if the overall patient experience and satisfaction score was < 63.7/100 (1st quintile); (2) "moderate" if between 63.7/100 and 84.9/100 (2nd-4th quintiles); (3) "high" if ≥ 85.0/100 (5th quintile). A multinomial logistic regression model was conducted (reference = "moderate" class) without hospital-level clustering analysis.

A total of 1,861,077 questionnaires were analyzed. Out of all patients, 34.9% experienced extreme/intense pain, 37.7% experienced anxiety, and 30.8% other discomforts. The authors identified a significant association between a low experience and satisfaction level and the experience of anxiety only (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.65-2.79), or the combination of extreme/intense pain with anxiety and other discomforts during a same hospital stay (aOR 5.14, 95% CI 5.05-5.23), as compared with patients who did not experience it. The aORs stayed high whenever anxiety had been felt during the hospitalization.

Experiencing anxiety, pain and other discomforts during a hospital stay is associated with significantly reduced overall patient experience and satisfaction level in France. The detection and management of patients' psychological distress (pain, anxiety, nausea, uncomfortable position, or dizziness) appear to be an integral part of the management of patients during their hospitalization.