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Moderators and determinants of satisfaction with diet counseling for patients consuming a therapeutic diet
1Nutrition Department, School of Medicine, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Objective:
To identify moderators and key determinants of patient satisfaction with diet counseling.
Design:
Survey questionnaire.
Setting:
A French-Canadian acute-care urban hospital.
Subjects:
Population of eligible patients hospitalized for a minimum stay of 5 days. Patients excluded from the study were those with notable physical, cognitive, or emotional limitations; those receiving enteral and parenteral nutrition; and those from long-term-care units. Analyses were performed on 49 patients who consumed a therapeutic diet and who received diet counseling during their current hospital stay.
Main Outcome Measures:
Overall satisfaction with diet counseling, compliance intentions, and satisfaction with four components of diet counseling. Measures were taken on seven-point graphic scales and five-point semantic scales.
Statistical Analysis:
Reliability estimates with Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient, stepwise multiple regression analyses, t tests, and one-way analyses of variance.
Results:
Facilitation skills and knowledge components of diet counseling were the key determinants of patient satisfaction. Among the moderators of patient satisfaction with diet counseling, women and patients with a good appetite were more satisfied with the knowledge components and had stronger compliance intentions. Patients who spent more than 50% of the time at rest were less satisfied than more active patients.
Applications:
Enhancing patient satisfaction implies having a good understanding of a patient's social and cultural context, developing problem-solving skills, and demonstrating greater flexibility and creativity about the means of providing diet counseling.