Consumer satisfaction: some new twists to a not so old evaluation

Satisfaction with mental health services was assessed by client consumers. Clients also reported on their level of symptomatology. Results revealed that younger clients reported less satisfaction and symptomatology than older clients. Sex, ethnicity, and a prior history of treatment were unrelated to satisfaction, but males and blacks were found to report less distress than females and whites respectively. Results on the variables of marital status, fee, location of service, and referral source were confounded by program. Retardation and geriatric clients, who, as a group reported less satisfaction, were overrepresented in the never married, no fee, and residential setting variables, all of which showed lower levels of satisfaction. The same overrepresentation was true of the retardation group alone on the symptomatology measure. Consumer satisfaction and symptomatology were found unrelated.