Development Of Outpatient Satisfaction Questionnaire Ingeneral Hospital

Objective Develop reliable and valid Outpatient Satisfaction Questionnaire (OPSQ) as an instrument of measurement for evaluating the quality of medical care and meet the urgent needs in modernlized administration of the hospitals.Subjects Pilot survey was conducted at a general hospital graded 3A in Guangzhou from 11 to 20 Oct. 2001 and 224 outpatients were interviewed. Formal survey was conducted at 7 hospitals in 4 cities and 1082 outpatients from Nov. 2001 to Mar. 2002 were interviewed.Methods The interview was carried out on the spot. In the pilot study,selection of items and factors in the questionnaire was base on comprehensive consideration with the response rate,critical rate (CR) value,variation degree,correlation,factor analysis. In the formal study,reliability and validity were evaluated. Internal consistency of factors and questionnaire was examined by calculating Cronbach alpha. Construct validity was evaluated by factor analysis as well as correlation among factor scores,OPSQ scores and scores of item 'general satisfaction'. Discriminant /convergent validity was tested by comparing items to own factor correlation with other factors. Demography was also applied for examining validity.Results The questionnaire for pilot survey consisted of 37 items and 8 factors which are doctor care,nursing care,waiting time,cost,auxiliary,facilities,process of access,medical outcome. Twenty one items and 6 factors were selected in pilot study. The questionnaire for formal study,OPSQ,consisted of 25 items and 7 factors which are doctor and nursing care,waiting time,cost,auxiliary,facilities,medical outcome,patient choice. Available rate of questionnaire was 99.20%,response rate of items was 93.04%,Cronbach's a was 0.93,and factor analysis indicated that factor loading and structure accorded with the contents of OPSQ. Correlation among items in the same factor were stronger than among different factors. The validity and wide application of the OPSQ were supported by the results from independent analysis of different hospitals. Conclusion The OPSQ was reliable and valid.