A comparison of physiotherapy services patients' satisfaction between the private and public sectors in Jordan

Patient satisfaction is an important measure of quality of service outcomes, used to measure different aspects of patient health care. The study aimed to compare the level of patient satisfaction among those receiving physiotherapy services in private versus public sectors in Jordan.

A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among physiotherapy services in private physiotherapy centers and the public sectors. The MedRisk survey questionnaire, designed to measure patient satisfaction with Physical Therapy care, was used in the study. Relevant demographic and global satisfaction items were included in the Jordan study. The participants (N = 224) were patients who received physiotherapy services as outpatients in four private physiotherapy centres, public sectors, and who completed a 26-item closed-ended structured questionnaire titled the MedRisk survey from January 2019 to January 2022. he data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 to assess frequencies and responses from the questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, chi-square tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were employed to evaluate differences in patient satisfaction with physical therapy services. A significance level of less than 0.05 was used to determine meaningful differences.

The survey questionnaire was completed by 224 patients, with a response rate of 74.67% across private physiotherapy centers, hospitals, and public sectors. Of the 224 patients, 137 (61.2%) were male, and 87 (38.8%) were female. The p-value was > 0.05, indicating no significant difference in satisfaction by gender.

Patients receiving physiotherapy in private centers and hospitals reported higher levels of satisfaction compared with those who received therapy in public sectors. Public hospital patients reported lower satisfaction with physiotherapy facilities and arranging appointments. To manage the high number of patients seen in public sectors' physiotherapy departments, the public sectors must provide suitable infrastructure.