Factors associated with patient satisfaction with hospital care

OBJECTIVE: To identify the influence of sociodemographic, care and communication factors on patient satisfaction. METHODS: Cross-sectional study by means of a telephonic survey of patients discharged during September, 2006. Instrument for measuring satisfaction: SERQVHOS questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: we used odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI); adjustment for confusion factors was performed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Response rate was 80.9%. On evaluating the influence of sociodemographic characteristics, we observed that patients whose nationality did not correspond to the European Union were more satisfied than Spanish patients (OR=3.01; 95% CI: 1.40-3.51); subjects who had only completed primary studies were more satisfied than those with university studies (OR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.88-4.35). With respect to care factors, patients readmitted because of the same major diagnostic category had lower satisfaction (OR=0.67, bordering statistical significance). Finally, with regard to communication factors, the three aspects most associated with patient satisfaction were: correct health-care personnel identification (OR: 6.22 95% CI: 3.52-10.97), receiving enough information about his/her state of health (OR: 3.83 95% CI: 1.94-7.57), and being informed about the place and schedule for medical information (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.60-4.22). CONCLUSIONS: Communication favourably affects the final perception of care, which justifies the continuity of its improvement in the health centres of our region.