A study on patient satisfaction with psychiatric services

Level of patient satisfaction with online psychiatric outdoor services

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 global pandemic exposed gaps in the treatment of common physical and mental disorders that had to do with things like lockdowns, poor convenience, fear of contracting COVID, and economic constraints. Hence, to address these treatment gaps while also limiting exposure to the COVID-19 infection, telemedicine in the form of telephone and internet consultations has increasingly become the recourse around the world. Our center adopted this trend and also launched a telepsychiatry initiative in order to better cater to the needs of patients with pre-existing mental health disorders and to ensure regular follow-ups and compliance with prescription regiments.

AIM

The present study aimed to assess the level of patient satisfaction with the online psychiatric services/telepsychiatry.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 100 patients with pre-existing mental health disorders. This was a cross-sectional study lasting 6 months. The DigiDoc app by Hospital Information Software (HIS) software, which is used to manage a patients appointment schedule, relevant clinical and lab details, along with follow-up prescriptions, was used to follow the selected patients for the purpose of this study. This software also provides a digital platform for video calls for online consultation. The Client Satisfaction Questionnaires-8 (CSQ-8) was employed to collect patient data for analysis.

RESULTS

The mean total CSQ-8 score of the study sample was 21.015.80 (832), which corresponds to a low-to-moderate level of satisfaction with online psychiatric services/telepsychiatry. Most patients (45%) reported low satisfaction levels, followed by 37% who reported moderate levels of satisfaction. Only 18% of patients reported higher satisfaction with telepsychiatry.

CONCLUSION

Despite the psychiatrists ability to provide adequate professional advice and psychoeducation through online psychiatric services, patients level of satisfaction proved moderate-to-low. This suggests a need to design standard protocols and guidelines in the search and provision of consultation services on online psychiatric service platforms that could help enhance patients levels of satisfaction.

Mental healthcare services satisfaction and its associated factors among patients with mental disorders on follow-up in the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Patient mental healthcare services satisfaction is a crucial component in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of clinical service delivery. It can be explained as the client's reaction to various aspects of the services they receive and their subjective assessment of the healthcare facilities and healthcare givers. Despite the importance of measuring mental healthcare services satisfaction, few studies have been conducted in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental healthcare services satisfaction among patients with mental disorders who were on follow-up at the University of Gondar Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.

Method

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 1, 2022 to July 21, 2022. All the study participants were interviewed on the follow-up visit consecutively. The Mental Healthcare Services Satisfaction Scale tool was used to measure patient satisfaction, and the Oslo-3 Social Support Scale and other questionnaires, such as environmental factors and clinical factors, were also screened. The data were checked for completeness, entered and coded using Epi-data version 4.6, and exported to Stata version 14 software for analysis. Bivariable logistic and multivariable regression analyses were employed to identify the factors significantly associated with satisfaction. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to report the result at a p-value of <0.05.

Results

A total of 402 study participants were included in this study, with a response rate of 99.7%. The proportions of male and female participants who were satisfied with the mental healthcare services were 59.29 and 40.70%, respectively. The overall mental healthcare services satisfaction was 65.46% with a 95% CI of 59.90, 70.62. Not being admitted to psychiatry [AOR: 4.94; 95% CI (1.30, 8.76)], getting their drugs in the hospital [AOR: 1.34; 95% CI (3.58, 8.74)], and having strong social support [AOR: 6.40; 95% CI (2.64, 8.28)] were significantly associated with satisfaction.

Conclusion

The prevalence of mental healthcare services satisfaction is very low; therefore, more is expected to be done to enhance the satisfaction of the patients who access these services via psychiatry clinics. Enhancing the social support of clients, making drugs available in the hospital, and improving the service received by the admitted client are necessary to increase the healthcare service satisfaction of clients on the whole. The services delivered in psychiatry units must be improved to achieve good patient satisfaction, which might be helpful for the improvement of the disorders.

Satisfaction and associated factors among psychiatry service users at Amanuel mental specialized hospital. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Patient service satisfaction is the central point for the health system. Worldwide, around 450 million people suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. Clients who are dissatisfied with the service will miss appointments, abandon the treatment plan, and eventually relapse from the illness. Despite improved access to health services, the satisfaction from health institution services was decreasing from time to time and there is little information on health service consumer satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the satisfaction and associated factors among psychiatric service consumers at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2021/2022.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 420 psychiatric service users from December 15 to January 16, 2021/2022. Systematic random sampling was used. A face-face interview technique and chart review were used to collect the data and a standard and validated tool called the mental health service satisfaction scale (MHSSS) was used to measure satisfaction. The collected data was entered into EPI info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis. The binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the data and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify associated factors with satisfaction. The level of significance was reported at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

The study showed that the magnitude of patient satisfaction was 63.3% [95% CI 58.3-67.9%). Sex (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI (1.072-2.88)], educational status (AOR 4.2, 95% CI 1.64-1.8), residency [AOR = 1.8, 95% CI (1.098-3.19)], distance from the hospital [AOR 0.56, (0.34-0.93)] were significantly associated with patient satisfaction at p < 0.05.

CONCLUSION

The magnitude of patient satisfaction was high. The study showed that Sex, educational status, residence, and distance from the hospital were significantly associated with satisfaction. Prioritizing care for female patients and those coming from a distance is necessary. More ever, it is preferable to routinely and continually monitor healthcare facilities so that timely feedback can be given and problems that affect patient satisfaction can be resolved.

Patient satisfaction and its socio-demographic correlates in a tertiary public hospital in Nepal: a cross-sectional study

Background

Patient satisfaction is one proxy indicator of the health care quality; however, enhancing patient satisfaction in low-income settings is very challenging due to the inadequacy of resources as well as low health literacy among patients. In this study, we assess patient satisfaction and its correlates in a tertiary public hospital in Nepal.

Methods

We conducted a cross sectional study at outpatient department of Bhaktapur Hospital of Nepal. To recruit participants for the study, we applied a systematic random sampling method. Our study used a validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III (PSQ-III) developed by RAND Corporation including various contextual socio-demographic characteristics. We calculated mean score and percentages of satisfaction across seven dimensions of patient satisfaction. To determine the association between various dimensions of patient satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics of the patient, we used a multi-ordinal logistic regression.

Results

Among 204 patients, we observed a wide variation in patient satisfaction across seven dimensions. About 39% of patients were satisfied in the dimension of general satisfaction, 92% in interpersonal manner, and 45% in accessibility and convenience. Sociodemographic factors such as age (AOR: 6.42; CI: 1.30–35.05), gender (AOR: 2.81; CI: 1.41–5.74), and ethnicity (AOR: 0.26; CI: 0.08–0.77) were associated with general satisfaction of the patients. Other sociodemographic variables such as education, occupation, and religion were associated with a majority of the dimensions of patient satisfaction (p < 0.05). Age was found to be the strongest predictor of patient satisfaction in five out of seven dimensions.

Conclusions

We concluded that patient satisfaction varies across different dimensions. Therefore, targeted interventions that direct to improve the dimensions of patient satisfaction where the proportion of satisfaction is low are needed. Similar studies should be conducted regularly at different levels of health facilities across the country to capture a wider picture of patient satisfaction at various levels.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-021-06155-3.

Treating mental health crises at home: Patient satisfaction with home nursing care

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Most studies have focused on whether hospital admissions have been reduced by the introduction of crisis services, rather than focusing on how these services are employed. Research has also shown that home assistance decreases costs and increases the level of patient satisfaction, thereby being more efficient in terms of the cost/effectiveness ratio than is traditional hospital care. Patient satisfaction with nursing care has long been identified as a key element of quality of care; however, satisfaction with nursing care among patients and families receiving crisis resolution at home has not been studied yet. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: There is limited research on patient satisfaction with CRHTTs. This study provides new insights and data including that on relationships between patient satisfaction and the teams' attention to person-centred mental health care. The difference between this study and other studies on patient satisfaction with crisis resolution home treatment teams is that this study focused on patients' and families' satisfaction with the nursing care provided by crisis resolution home treatment teams rather than with the general service provided. This study is the first of its kind with such a focus. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This research has both academic and clinical implications. Patients' and their families' satisfaction with nursing care is an integral aspect for evaluating mental health services, and this is especially important regarding services provided by crisis resolution home treatment teams because such teams are currently being introduced in countries such as Spain. Closely examining patients and families' satisfaction with nursing care can also foster improvements in current practices. Nurses in crisis teams might need to focus on equalizing power relations, which the data gathered in this study suggests is most important to patient satisfaction. ABSTRACT: Introduction Crisis resolution home treatment teams (CRHTT) provide short-term, intensive home treatment to people experiencing mental health crises. Patient satisfaction has long been identified as a key element of quality of care; however, satisfaction with nursing care as part of this service has not been studied yet. Aim To assess patients' and their families' satisfaction with the nursing care provided through a home care program offered by a hospital in Catalonia which administers person-centred care. Method A mixed methods research design was conducted. A cross-sectional study including quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data with a phenomenological focus was conducted. Results Twenty interviews were conducted. Patients and relatives reported high satisfaction that seems to be related to the person-centred nature of the care. Discussion The findings provide new insights, including how home treatment tends to equalize power relations between nurses and patients/the patient's family members, and how nurses increase sensitivity when focusing on service users' needs and priorities, leading to high patient and family satisfaction. Implications for practice This research has both academic and clinical implications. It highlights what mental health patients and their families value most about home care and interactions with nurses, and also drives improvements in current practices.

Perceived Patient Satisfaction and Associated Factors among Psychiatric Patients Who Attend Their Treatment at Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic, Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia, Jimma, 2019

Background

In health care, patient satisfaction is an attitudinal response and a pillar for quality assurance, but there is reluctance to measure it among mentally ill patients. Satisfied patients become more compliant. However, no study was done in this study area before. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the magnitude of perceived patient satisfaction and associated factor at Jimma University Medical Center, outpatient psychiatry clinic.

Methods

Cross-sectional study design was conducted, and systematic random sampling technique was used to get study participants. The 24-item Mental Health Service Satisfaction Scale (a validated tool in Ethiopia) was used to assess patient satisfaction. Data was entered using Epi-data 3.1 and exported to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 22.0 for analysis. Linear regression analysis (P < 0.05) was used to identify the association between the outcome and independent variable.

Result

414 respondents participated in the study with response rate of 98%. The overall percentage of patient satisfaction was 50.3% (95% CI 48.4%-51.2%). Being male (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (β = -0.651, 95% CI (-0.969, -0.332)), having secondary and above educational status (Conclusion and Recommendation. This study found that half of the study participants are satisfied with the service. Distance from the hospital, current substance use, waiting time, and having good social support were identified as modifiable factors that can be improved through working with stakeholders to increase patient satisfaction.

Patient satisfaction and associated factors among psychiatry outpatients of St Paulo's Hospital, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Patient satisfaction with mental healthcare service is recognised as an important integral part of measuring the outcomes and performance of clinical service delivery. It is not well studied in Ethiopia. Therefore, it is essential to improve service in the future.

AIMS

To assess patient satisfaction and associated factors among psychiatry outpatients at St. Paulo's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

METHODS

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted with consecutive sampling technique from May to June 2018. Data were collected using a Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8). Both bivariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analyses were used. Variables with p value <0.05 at multivariate analysis were considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 589 participants were enrolled with a response rate of 98.2%. In regard to the magnitude of patient satisfaction, 50.3% (95% CI 46.0 to 54.2) were highly satisfied, 31.0% (95% CI 27.2 to 34.8) were satisfied, and 18.7% (95% CI 15.4 to 22.1) were dissatisfied. Male sex (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.30, 95% CI 1.57 to 3.36), inability to read and write (AOR 2.23, 95% CI 1.10 to 4.66), being unemployed (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.47), obtaining services for free (AOR 1.57, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.22), and availability of medication (AOR 1.62, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.23) were significantly associated with patient satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The study showed that further improvements in patient satisfaction are required. Male sex, inability to read and write, being unemployed, obtaining services free of charge, and availability of medication were significantly associated with patient satisfaction. More than half of the participants were dissatisfied with the waiting time to receive services. The provision of services within a reasonable timeframe and meeting patient expectations are helpful for good health outcomes.

Patient satisfaction about services obtained from a teaching hospital, Port Blair: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Periodic evaluation of health services delivered to the community is a part of total quality management of health care delivery system in developing countries.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the level of satisfaction among outdoor patients toward health care services available at teaching hospital, Port Blair.

METHODOLOGY

The study included exit interview of 500 patients, sampled from 8 service delivery points of the health facility. Predesigned and pretested questionnaire based on PSQ-18 scale developed by Marshall and Hays was used as a study tool. Data entry was done in Microsoft excel sheet and analysis was done using IBM SPSS software version 21.

RESULTS

It has been observed that the majority of patients (62%) were from urban area. The highest number (32.40%) of respondents was in the age group of 30-39 years category. Mean satisfaction was the highest for communication (3.94 out of 5), followed by general satisfaction (3.69), technical quality (3.46), time spent with doctor (3.41), interpersonal manner (3.35), and least in accessibility and convenience (2.96).

CONCLUSION

Our study showed a good level of satisfaction of patients with services obtained from the referral center. Among the different domains of measurements of patient satisfaction, only accessibility and convenience score was low. Findings of this study would serve as a baseline data for improving the quality of services and making them more clients centered.

Evaluating patient satisfaction with pharmacist-administered long-acting injectable antipsychotics in the community pharmacy

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate patient satisfaction with pharmacist-administered long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAs) in the community pharmacy.

DESIGN

Prospective survey.

SETTING

Albertsons Companies community pharmacies during December 2016 to February 2017.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients receiving LAIAs at participating pharmacies.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

A survey assessed patients' satisfaction with pharmacist-administered LAIAs in the community pharmacy.

RESULTS

LAIA recipients (N = 104) reported satisfaction with community pharmacist-administered LAIAs. Participants who had received the service at other types of health clinics (N = 57) also reported higher satisfaction with current service compared to a similar service received elsewhere. Participants indicated that they would recommend service to others and that service was more convenient than a similar service received in an alternative setting. There was not a statistically significant relationship between patient demographic characteristics and likelihood of recommending service to others.

CONCLUSION

Patients were satisfied with a pharmacist-administered LAIA service in the community pharmacy, and they found it more convenient than similar services provided elsewhere.

Satisfaction with care in a Brazilian psychiatric inpatient unit: differences in perceptions among patients according to type of health insurance

INTRODUCTION

User satisfaction assessment in mental health services is an important indicator of treatment quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate treatment satisfaction in a sample of inpatients with mental disorders and the associations between levels of satisfaction and clinical/sociodemographic variables.

METHODS

This exploratory study investigated 227 psychiatric inpatients who answered the Patient Satisfaction with Mental Health Services Scale (SATIS-BR) and the Perception of Change Scale (EMP). SATIS scores were analyzed according to associations with clinical and sociodemographic data. Pearson correlations were used to correlate SATIS scores with other variables.

RESULTS

We found a high degree of satisfaction with care at the psychiatric inpatient unit assessed. In general, patients rated maximum satisfaction for most items. The highest satisfaction scores were associated with patients receiving treatment through the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) and with less education. SATIS showed a moderate positive correlation with EMP. The worst evaluated dimension was physical facilities and comfort of the ward.

CONCLUSION

Patients treated via SUS may be more satisfied than patients with private health insurance when treated in the same facility. The evaluation of treatment satisfaction can be used to reorganize services at psychiatric inpatient units.

Patient Satisfaction with Psychiatric Outpatient Care at University of Gondar Specialized Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

Patient satisfaction is an imperative and commonly used indicator for measuring the quality of healthcare. Patient satisfaction with psychiatry services is an important construct, which influences multiple areas including treatment adherence and outcome. The aim of the present study was to assess the level of patient satisfaction and determine associated factors with psychiatric outpatient care.

Method

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 15 to May 15, 2017. A total of 250 psychiatric patients visiting psychiatric outpatient care in University of Gondar Specialized Hospital during the study period were included in the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and entered to and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA with post hoc test were used to determine the characteristics of the participants and examine the difference among different variables. P value<0.05 and confidence interval (CI) of 95% were used as cut-off points for determining statistical significance.

Results

During the one-month data collection period, 250 participants (92.593% response rate) were included in the analysis. Majority (133 (53.2%)) of them were males and cannot read and write (107 (42.8%)). Majority (194 (77.6%)) of study participants were satisfied with the outpatient care. The overall level of satisfaction among participants was good with a mean satisfaction score of 3.87. Majority (173 (69.2%)) of the participants claimed that health professionals working in outpatient care did not provide adequate information about payment for services. Statistically significant satisfaction difference with respect to the psychiatric outpatient care was found in the type of mental illness (t=2.224, P=0.043) and the participants' employment status (t=2.981, P=0.003).

Conclusion

In general, the overall participants' satisfaction towards outpatient care was high. Statistically significant satisfaction difference with respect to the psychiatric outpatient care was found in the type of mental illness and the participants' employment status. Regular service evaluation is important to improve patient satisfaction and further research is needed to investigate why satisfaction difference exists among different types of mental illnesses.

Satisfaction of psychiatric inpatients in China: clinical and institutional correlates in a national sample

BACKGROUND

Surveying patients' satisfaction is essential to improve patient-centered care, however, studies on satisfaction and their correlates among psychiatric inpatients are rare in China. This study aimed to measure satisfaction levels of psychiatric inpatients in a national sample and to examine individual and institutional correlates.

METHODS

As part of the National Survey for the Evaluation of Psychiatric Hospital Performance, psychiatric inpatients from 32 tertiary psychiatric hospitals in 29 Chinese provinces were interviewed on the day of discharge by trained research staff. Satisfaction was assessed using a five-item questionnaire. Patients' sociodemographic and clinical information were manually retrieved from medical records and institutional data were provided by participating hospitals. Multilevel linear regression was used to assess factors associated with level of satisfaction.

RESULTS

Among 1663 inpatients, the reported satisfaction levels were high, with a mean score of 23.3 ± 2.4 out of 25. Education level was positively associated with global satisfaction, satisfaction with costs, and satisfaction with privacy protection. Treatment response was associated with global satisfaction and with the doctor-patient communication subscore. The number of psychotherapy sessions was positively associated with the privacy protection subscore (coefficient = 0.0, P = 0.046). The Global Assessment of Function score was positively associated with the doctor-patient communication subscore (coefficient = 0.0, P = 0.003). Total satisfaction scores and all five subscores were positively associated with hospital-level factors, and patients discharged from hospitals with better staffing and resources reported significantly higher levels of satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Overall, psychiatric inpatients in China were satisfied with the services they received. To further improve patient satisfaction, mental health professionals should optimize their patients' treatment response as much as possible before discharge and provide more psychological treatment during the hospitalization. The government should also provide more resources to increase the number of mental health professionals (nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists) working in psychiatric hospitals.

What Was Helpful Questionnaire (WHQ): Psychometric Properties of a Novel Tool Designed to Capture Parental Perceived Helpfulness of Interventions in Children Requiring Mental Health Inpatient Care

Background: Children in mental health inpatient care require multiple treatments. There is not a comprehensive instrument to assess perceived helpfulness of this combination of interventions. Aims: To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the What was Helpful Questionnaire (WHQ), a tool designed to capture parental perceived helpfulness of the multidimensional management approach used in inpatient children's units. Methods: A total of 73 inpatients and their families were included in this study. The WHQ consists of six items exploring the perceived helpfulness of different aspects of care. Demographic and clinical variables were collected on admission and discharge. An exploratory factor analysis using polychoric correlations was performed to assess the item structure of the scale and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used for internal reliability. Associations were assessed using regressions models. Results: WHQ is a unidimensional scale with an internal reliability of 0.77. No associations were identified between WHQ total score and age, gender, and Children's Global Assessment Scale scores change. A strong relationship between the WHQ total score and parental Acorn Satisfaction Questionnaire total score was found. Conclusions: Results add evidence for the validity and the reliability of the WHQ to measure parental perceived helpfulness of interventions offered in inpatient children's units.

Patient satisfaction with primary healthcare services: are there any links with patients' symptoms of anxiety and depression?

Background

The aim of our study was to determine the association of anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as the main socio-demographic factors, with patients’ satisfaction with primary healthcare services.

Methods

The respondents were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire that included information on the patients’ gender, age, place of residence, education, ethnicity, the type of clinic they visited and the presence of chronic diseases. Patient satisfaction was evaluated by using a short version of the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. We also used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Results

Poor evaluations of primary healthcare services were more characteristic of males, older patients, those living in district centres and villages, individuals with lower (secondary or lower) education levels, respondents of Russian ethnicity (compared to Lithuanian), patients with chronic diseases and higher anxiety and depression symptom scores. In the final regression analysis, better satisfaction with primary healthcare services was observed in respondents who were less depressed, of Polish ethnicity and who were living in a city rather than a village.

Conclusions

Being more depressed or anxious, living in the district centre or countryside related to patients’ worse satisfaction with primary healthcare services. The results of nationality of patients and their satisfaction are ambiguous. The is strong correlation between the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Patient satisfaction with mental health services based on Andersen's Behavioral Model

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article was to assess the satisfaction of adult patients who received mental health services (MHS) in healthcare networks staffed by multidisciplinary professionals and offering a range of MHS, and to identify variables associated with patient satisfaction.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 325 patients with mental disorders (MDs) among 4 Quebec health service networks. Data were collected using 9 standardized instruments and participant medical records. A 3-factor conceptual framework (predisposing, enabling, and needs-related factors) based on Andersen's Behavioral Model was used, integrating sociodemographic, clinical, needs-related, service utilization, social support, and quality-of-life (QOL) variables. An adjusted multiple linear regression model was performed.

RESULTS

The global mean score for patient satisfaction was 4.11 (minimum: 2.0; maximum: 5.0). Among the enabling factors, continuity of care, having a case manager, and help received from services were positively associated with patient satisfaction, whereas being hospitalized was negatively associated. Among the needs-related factors, the number of needs was negatively associated with satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings demonstrated higher levels of satisfaction among patients who received good continuity of care and well-managed, frequent services in relation to their needs. Dissatisfaction was higher for patients with serious unmet needs or those hospitalized, which underlines the importance of taking these particular variables into account in the interest of improving MHS delivery and patient recovery.

A clinically useful self-report measure of psychiatric patients' satisfaction with the initial evaluation

Patient satisfaction is one component of the quality of care. Studies of satisfaction in samples of established patients are biased because dissatisfied patients are more likely to have dropped out of treatment. We, therefore, sought to develop a new instrument assessing patients' satisfaction with the initial psychiatric evaluation. In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project we describe the development, reliability, and validity of the Clinically Useful Patient Satisfaction Scale (CUPSS). The CUPSS is a brief, self-administered questionnaire covering 3 areas: clinician's attitude and behavior, office environment and staff, and overall satisfaction. A sample of psychiatric outpatients (n=412) and partial hospital patients (n=500) completed the measure immediately after their initial meeting with the psychiatrist. The scale had high internal consistency, and all item-scale correlations were significant. All items were significantly correlated with each of the indicators of global satisfaction. There was sufficient variability in satisfaction ratings to detect differences amongst clinicians. The results of the present study of psychiatric outpatients and partial hospital patients indicate that the CUPSS was minimally to not at all burdensome to complete, it had good psychometric properties, and it can discriminate amongst clinicians.

Mental health care and delivery system at Temeke hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

BACKGROUND

Low and middle income countries face many challenges in meeting mental health needs in their regions. Treatment of patients with mental disorders is inadequate in most of these countries and majority of individuals with severe mental disorders remain untreated. The bad news is that mental health problems in these countries are on the rise due to socioeconomic challenges being faced. Regardless of guidelines and directives provided by WHO for organizing mental health services, these countries continue to face many challenges in the effort to cater for mental health needs. Such challenges include lack of human resource for mental health especially at primary health care level, inadequate training of human resource for mental health, misplacement of human resource for mental health, lack of drugs, wrong priorities, problematic insurance coverage for mental disorders, and stigma. This study aimed at exploring mental health care and delivery system at Temeke district hospital, and how services were organized to meet the increasing mental health needs of its population.

METHODS

A qualitative study was conducted at Temeke hospital in Dar es Salaam, involving 7 in-depth interviews with mental health care providers, 7 in-depth interviews with mentally ill patients, and 2 focus group discussions with caregivers. A convenient sampling procedure was used to select participants for the study. All interviews were audio-recorded in Kiswahili and transcribed. A qualitative Content Analysis was used to analyze data after translation with the aid of Nvivo 10 software.

RESULTS

Three main themes were identified. These were resource challenges, environmental/system challenges, and satisfaction with mental health services. Temeke health facility faced resource and environmental/system challenges, and there were mixed feelings on satisfaction with services. Funding and priority issues were found to mainly affect delivery of appropriate services to clients.

CONCLUSION

Health facilities that provide mental health services in the community need to be well equipped with necessary resources to meet the vast needs of people they serve. Having a political will, improving the health systems governance for mental health, and priority setting, are necessary to address the challenges experienced in the delivery of mental health services.

Quality of care in cancer: An exploration of patient perspectives

Introduction:

Patient satisfaction is as important as is the care itself. When the patient has a disease like cancer it becomes even more important. A cancer patient not only suffers from the disease but also undergoes substantial mental trauma, agony, stress, uncertainty, and apprehension. There are limited studies in India eliciting patient's views on the quality of care being received by cancer patients.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional triangulation data transformation model mixed method design (Quant + Qual) was used to conduct the study between March and May 2015 among patients attending specialty hospitals providing oncology services in Odisha, India. The quantitative data were collected using, Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 to assess satisfaction. The qualitative data were obtained through in-depth interviews using open-ended questionnaire.

Results:

The results showed that general satisfaction among the patients was 60%. The maximum score was obtained for the communication of doctors. The qualitative findings revealed that travel for distant places for minor illness, waiting period, and lack of services at the primary care facilities were reasons for patient's dissatisfaction.

Conclusion:

The study found that the patients were generally satisfied with the quality of services. However, more studies should be conducted including perceptions of the patients as well as the caregiver.

Satisfaction and associated factors of outpatient psychiatric service consumers in Ethiopia

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of patient satisfaction and associated factors with psychiatric outpatient services in Ethiopia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed from May 2015 to June 2015. A total of 454 participants selected by systematic random sampling were included in this study. Pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Patient satisfaction was measured using Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale, and other validated tools were used to assess the associated variables. Multivariate logistic regressions with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength, and P-value <0.05 was used to indicate significance of association.

RESULTS

A total of 441 respondents were enrolled, with a response rate of 97.1% and magnitude of satisfaction of 61.2%. Being male (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.612, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.94), being widowed (AOR =0.13, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.36), urban residence (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.78), diagnosed with schizophrenia (AOR =0.48, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.81), unfavorable attitude (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.86), and poor social functioning (AOR =0.52, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.80) were significantly associated with satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

More than one-third of psychiatric service consumers were dissatisfied with the service they received. Integrating patients to their own treatment plan and regular service evaluation are important to improve satisfaction.

Feedback on SMS reminders to encourage adherence among patients taking antipsychotic medication: a cross-sectional survey nested within a randomised trial

OBJECTIVES

To explore feedback on tailored SMS reminders to encourage medication adherence and outpatient treatment among patients taking antipsychotic medication, and associations related to the feedback.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey nested within a nationwide randomised clinical trial ("Mobile.Net" ISRCTN27704027).

SETTING

Psychiatric outpatient care in Finland.

PARTICIPANTS

Between September 2012 and December 2013, 403 of 558 adults with antipsychotic medication responded after 12 months of SMS intervention.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Feedback was gathered with a structured questionnaire based on Technology Acceptance Model theory. Data were analysed by Pearson's χ(2) test, binary logistic regression and stepwise multiple regression analyses.

RESULTS

Almost all participants (98%) found the SMS reminders easy to use and 87% felt that the SMS did not cause harm. About three-quarters (72%) were satisfied with the SMS received, and 61% found it useful. Divorced people were particularly prone to find SMS reminders useful (χ(2)=13.17, df=6, p=0.04), and people seeking employment were more often 'fully satisfied' with the SMS compared with other groups (χ(2)=10.82, df=4, p=0.029). People who were older at first contact with psychiatric services were more often 'fully satisfied' than younger groups (OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.04, p=0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

The feedback of patients taking antipsychotic medication on SMS services was generally positive. Overall, people were quite satisfied despite considerable variation in their sociodemographic background and illness history. Our results endorse that the use of simple easy-to-use existing technology, such as mobile phones and SMS, is acceptable in psychiatric outpatient services. Moreover, people using psychiatric outpatient services are able to use this technology. This acceptable and accessible technology can be easily tailored to each patient's needs and could be customised to the needs of the isolated or jobless. This is an area in which much careful evaluation is needed.

Interactional aspects of care during hospitalization: perspectives of family caregivers of psychiatrically ill in a tertiary care setting in India

There are very few studies on user-perspectives about mental health care services that explore perspectives of family caregivers in India. An exploratory study was undertaken to understand the perceived importance of various aspects of interactions with mental health service providers during hospitalization, from the perspectives of family caregivers. In addition, it also aimed at documenting their actual experience of interactional aspects of care during the hospitalization of their relatives. The study was conducted on fifty family caregivers of patients with varied psychiatric diagnoses hospitalized in a tertiary psychiatric care setting in South India. Measures of Interactional aspects of care were developed to assess perceived importance of six different interactional domains of care and the actual experience of care in these domains. Provision of informational inputs and addressing of concerns raised emerged as the domains of care given highest importance. The item pertaining to 'sharing with the caregiver about different alternatives for treatment' received negative ratings in terms of actual experience by maximum number of participants (18%). Significant differences on perceived importance of four domains of interactional aspects of care (dignity, confidentiality and fairness, addressing concerns raised, informational inputs and prompt attention and consistent care) emerged between caregiver subgroups based on educational level of the caregiver, socio-economic status, hospitalization history and broad diagnostic categories. In addition, the care givers of patients with psychoses assigned significantly more positive ratings on actual experience for all the domains of interactional aspects of care. The findings have implications for further research and practice.

Determinants of patient satisfaction with hospital health care in psychiatry: results based on the SATISPSY-22 questionnaire

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study was to identify patient- and care-related factors that are associated with patients' satisfaction with psychiatric hospital care, using a specific, self-administered questionnaire based exclusively on the patient's point of view: the Satisfaction with Psychiatry Care Questionnaire-22 (SATISPSY-22).

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the psychiatric departments of two French public university teaching hospitals. The data collected included sociodemographic information, clinical characteristics, care characteristics, and the SATISPSY-22. A multivariate analysis using multiple linear regressions was performed to determine the variables potentially associated with satisfaction levels.

RESULTS

Two hundred seventy patients were enrolled in our study. Only one moderate association was found between satisfaction and sociodemographic characteristics: the personal experience dimension with age (β=0.15). Clinical improvement was moderately associated with higher global satisfaction (β=-0.15), higher satisfaction with quality of care (β=-0.19), and higher satisfaction with food (β=-0.18). Stronger associations with satisfaction were found for care characteristics, particularly the therapeutic alliance with all of the satisfaction dimensions (β, 0.20-0.43) except food, and for seclusion with global satisfaction (β=-0.33) and personal experience (β=-0.32). Patients with previous hospitalization also had a higher level of satisfaction with quality of care compared with patients who were admitted for the first time (β=-0.15).

CONCLUSION

This study has identified a number of potential determinants of satisfaction. The therapeutic relationship and seclusion were the most important features associated with a patient's satisfaction. These factors might be amenable through intervention, which, in turn, might be expected to improve satisfaction, patients' management, and health outcomes in psychiatric hospitals.

Reliability and validity of a Mental Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire in Iran

Background

The Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire is an instrument designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2000 to assess the experience of patients when interacting with the health care system. This investigation aimed to adapt a Mental Health System Responsiveness Questionnaire (MHSRQ) based on the WHO concept and evaluate its validity and reliability to the mental health care system in Iran.

Design

In accordance with the WHO health system responsiveness questionnaire and the findings of a qualitative study, a Farsi version of the MHSRQ was tailored to suit the mental health system in Iran. This version was tested in a cross-sectional study at nine public mental health clinics in Tehran. A sample of 500 mental health services patients was recruited and subsequently completed the questionnaire. Item missing rate was used to check the feasibility while the reliability of the scale was determined by assessing the Cronbach's alpha and item total correlations. The factor structure of the questionnaire was investigated by performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Results

The results showed a satisfactory feasibility since the item missing value was lower than 5.2%. With the exception of access domain, reliability of different domains of the questionnaire was within a desirable range. The factor loading showed an acceptable unidimentionality of the scale despite the fact that three items related to access did not perform well. The CFA also indicated good fit indices for the model (CFI=0.99, GFI=0.97, IFI=0.99, AGFI=0.97).

Conclusions

In general, the findings suggest that the Farsi version of the MHSRQ is a feasible, reliable, and valid measure of the mental health system responsiveness in Iran. Changes to the questions related to the access domain should be considered in order to improve the psychometric properties of the measure.