Patient's satisfaction in physiotherapy outpatient departments of Amhara regional comprehensive specialized hospitals, Ethiopia

Background

Satisfaction is basically the state of being gratified and act of fulfilling one's need or desires. Nowadays, evidence-based practice concept is prevailing and there has been a growing interest in the measurement of patient satisfaction in healthcare research. Patient satisfaction surveys provide several benefits for healthcare professionals. Assessing patient’s satisfaction with physiotherapy service could generate knowledge that can utilized for improving or maintaining quality service. Although a wide coverage and high emphasis givens to patient satisfaction studies in developed counties, there are few research’s done in Africa. This study aimed to assess satisfaction in physiotherapy service and identify predictors that affect satisfaction among patient treated in physiotherapy outpatient department.

Objectives

To assess satisfaction in physiotherapy service and identify associated factors among patients in physiotherapy outpatient department in Amhara regional state comprehensive specialized hospitals.

Method

Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among physiotherapy outpatients from April to June 2021, at three selected Comprehensive specialized hospitals. Data were collected by interviewing participants using semi-structured questionnaire. Patient satisfaction was determined by using Medrisk tool. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariable logistic regression method were used to identify predictor factors.

Result

A total of 409 participants with a response rate of 95% were included in this study. The overall satisfaction among physiotherapy outpatient attendee was 50.1% with 95% CI (46.2–55.7). Pain level (AOR = 5.59 95%CI (2.58–12.1), longitudinal continuity of care (AOR = 3.02 95%CI (1.46–6.62) and self-rated health improvement (AOR = 3.76, 95% CI (1.78–7.94) were significantly associated factors.

Conclusion

The overall satisfaction in this study were found to be low in Amhara regional state comprehensive specialized hospitals. pain level, self-rated health improvement and longitudinal continuity of care were significantly associated factors.

Factors Influencing the Overall Satisfaction in Patients With Severe Brain Injury With Physiotherapy Services During Inpatient Rehabilitation

OBJECTIVE

To determine what influences the satisfaction of rehabilitation inpatients and their relatives with physiotherapy after severe traumatic brain injury.

DESIGN

A prospective purpose-designed survey of consecutive eligible patients discharged from a metropolitan brain injury unit.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 65 patients with severe traumatic brain injury and 32 relatives.

RESULTS

The vast majority of patients (99%) and relatives (97%) reported being "satisfied" or "highly satisfied" with the service. Patients' overall satisfaction was influenced by the extent of actual and perceived improvement, satisfaction with certain aspects of service delivery, and quality of interaction with physiotherapy staff. Satisfaction with the amount of therapy was the key determinant for patients' overall satisfaction, whereas relatives' overall satisfaction was influenced primarily by how well they felt they were listened to by physiotherapy staff.

CONCLUSION

The high satisfaction of the patients and relatives suggests that our brain injury unit provides physiotherapy that meets their expectations. Promoting recovery, providing high-quality care, and ensuring good interaction are ways to maintain high satisfaction of patients and relatives with the service. In addition, staff may have to pay particular attention to patients' satisfaction with the amount of therapy and ensure that relatives' needs are listened to.

Development of an Arabic inpatient satisfaction survey: application in acute medical rehabilitation setting in Saudi Arabia

Background

In the management of chronic disease, evidence suggests that satisfied patients exhibit more loyalty to treatment providers and greater adherence to treatment regimens. This is particularly so in the rehabilitation setting. We aimed to develop a reliable and valid Arabic-language survey to objectively measure inpatient satisfaction in medical rehabilitation settings in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

The King Fahad Medical City Rehabilitation Hospital Patient Satisfaction Survey (RH PSS) is a self-administered survey that addresses four domains of rehabilitation care: access, structure, process, and outcomes. The RH PSS was developed through four steps. Step 1: An item-generation process utilizing input from patients, rehabilitation professionals, and the relevant literature. Step 2: Individual interviews and focus groups, conducted for cognitive testing of the survey and to examine content validity. Step 3: Assessment of internal consistency and construct validity. Step 4: Survey implementation wherein factor analysis and reliability and validity testing were conducted. The survey was conducted at an acute inpatient medical rehabilitation hospital in Saudi Arabia. A total of 709 rehabilitation inpatients participated.

Results

The RH PSS demonstrated reasonable reliability and validity. Cronbach’s alpha for all the RH PSS subscales ranged from 0.81 to 0.89, and 0.96 for the entire survey. Factor analysis showed good correlation of the 33 survey items and the subscales. The RH PSS demonstrated a good level of predictive validity through the high correlation between the global item “intent to recommend” and overall satisfaction (R2 = 0.786, adjusted R2 = 0.783, p = 0.01).

Conclusions

The RH PSS is the first satisfaction survey with reported validity and reliability testing to address inpatient rehabilitation settings in Saudi Arabia. Further research involving multiple sites is recommended for nationwide validation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-017-2596-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Satisfaction of Nigerian stroke survivors with outpatient physiotherapy care

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the satisfaction of stroke survivors with outpatient physiotherapy care.

METHODS

Sixty stroke survivors were surveyed using the European Physiotherapy Treatment Outpatient Satisfaction Survey (EPTOPS). Focus group discussion (FGD) was also conducted with four stroke survivors from the same sample. Data were analyzed using the Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman's correlation coefficients at p = 0.05. FGD was transcribed and thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

Nearly all the participants (98.3%) indicated one of good, very good, and excellent improvement in their clinical conditions with physiotherapy. Majority expressed satisfaction with their physiotherapy care, the modal response being very good (59.3%). Patients' satisfaction and socio-demographics were not significantly correlated (p > 0.05). Overarching themes from FGD were physiotherapy in stroke rehabilitation, satisfaction with physiotherapy care, cost, and lack of continuity of care as sources of dissatisfaction. Physiotherapists' demeanor was a facilitator of satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

The stroke survivors were generally satisfied with outpatient physiotherapy care. However, lack of continuity and cost of care were sources of dissatisfaction among patients. Delivery of physiotherapy to stroke survivors in Nigeria should be structured to allow for continuity of care as this may enhance satisfaction. Implementation of inexpensive rehabilitation strategies may help reduce cost of physiotherapy.

Factors predicting client satisfaction in occupational therapy and rehabilitation

Client satisfaction, a widely used outcome indicator of quality in health care, is inherently client centered and important in occupational therapy. We developed an instrument called the Satisfaction With Continuum of Care Revised (SCC-R) and tested a logistic regression model of satisfaction for six predictive research questions. Data collected from 769 clients from a large rehabilitation hospital using the SCC-R were paired with data that included demographics, functional status, and measures of the rehabilitation including occupational therapy. Satisfaction was stratified into two groups, satisfied and dissatisfied. The most robust and consistent predictors of satisfaction were functional status and improvements in functional status, presence of a neurological disorder, total rehabilitation hours, and admission to rehabilitation within 15 days of condition onset. The finding that improvements in functional status, especially self-care, were predictive of satisfaction is particularly relevant for occupational therapy. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Patient satisfaction and perception of change following single physiotherapy consultations in a hospital's outpatient clinic for people with multiple sclerosis

The aim of this study was to investigate satisfaction with physiotherapy and perception of change following single physiotherapy consultations in a hospital's outpatient service for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) (PwMS). The consultation included assessment, exploration of treatment, information, and instruction in self-assisted exercises based on the British guidelines for PwMS. Seventy-two PwMS were consecutively included, 54 women and 18 men with a mean age 45 (range 26-80). The Outpatient Experience Questionnaire (OPEQ) was used to record satisfaction; the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) and the Borg's Rating Scale of Perceived Exertion (BRSPE) were used to investigate perceived changes in standing up, sitting down, and walking following the consultation. Sixty-four patients (89%) returned the OPEQ. The results showed strong satisfaction with physiotherapy regarding both interpersonal and clinical skills (mean 9.4, SD 1.0, best score 10) and no significant differences regarding the level of ambulatory independence, gender, or age. The PGIC indicated perceived short-term improvement for 35 (57%) patients, with no patients reporting deterioration. The BRSPE showed a significantly lower perception of exertion during walking after the consultation (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Z-2.58, p = 0.010). The study indicates a high level of satisfaction regarding interpersonal and clinical skills, information, and instruction in self-assisted exercises and indicates that perceptions of short-term improvement may occur after single consultations. The study suggests an important role for physiotherapy in hospital outpatient services for PwMS, but further studies are necessary to deepen our understanding.

Highly satisfied or eager to please? Assessing satisfaction among allied health outpatients

Aims

This article details a study into measuring patient satisfaction among patients attending acute outpatient physiotherapy and occupational therapy services at a large metropolitan health service.

Methods

Patients were invited to complete an anonymous written survey incorporating the MedRisk Instrument for Patient Satisfaction with Physical Therapy Care (MRPS), and two open questions regarding positive and negative aspects of their experience.

Findings

One-hundred and sixty-five responses were received. Respondents reported themselves to be very satisfied with the service they received with an overall satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5 on the MRPS. Almost half of patient comments on positive aspects of care concerned factors relating to personal interactions. Issues related to waiting areas featured most highly in suggestions for improvement.

Conclusions

Although the high rates of satisfaction were encouraging, they are consistent with previous findings that research of this type tends to result in high rates of reported satisfaction, and is subject to various forms of bias. The responses to the open questions were, perhaps, more informative, reinforcing previous findings that interpersonal interactions and short waiting times are important to satisfaction, and that improving waiting areas and communicating delays may be simple measures that could improve the patient experience.