Defining and measuring patient satisfaction with medical care
Abstract
This paper describes the development of Form II of the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ), a self-administered survey instrument designed for use in general population studies. The PSQ contains 55 Likert-type items that measure attitudes toward the more salient characteristics of doctors and medical care services (technical and interpersonal skills of providers, waiting time for appointments, office waits, emergency care, costs of care, insurance coverage, availability of hospitals, and other resources) and satisfaction with care in general. Scales are balanced to control for acquiescent response set. Scoring rules for 18 multi-item subscales and eight global scales were standardized following replication of item analyses in four field tests. Internal-consistency and test-retest estimates indicate satisfactory reliability for studies involving group comparisons. The PSQ well represents the content of characteristics of providers and services described most often in the literature and in response to open-ended questions. Empirical tests of validity have also produced generally favorable results.
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The Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III was adapted for this study because no suitable questionnaire was available for this context.
“The Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III 27 was adapted for use within this study, as there was no suitable questionnaire available for use within this context.”
From Telemedicine in dermatology: a randomised controlled trial (2006) · cites this paper as [27]
The Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III was adapted for use in this study because no suitable questionnaire was available for this context, and nine items were added from a questionnaire developed for asynchronous teledermatology consultation.
“The Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire III 27 was adapted for use within this study, as there was no suitable questionnaire available for use within this context.”
From Telemedicine in dermatology: a randomised controlled trial (2006) · cites this paper as [27]
Satisfaction is an important criterion for health care quality and supports the development of health services.
“Participants' satisfaction – i.e., the subjective evaluation of multiple facets of an experienced health care service with regard to a-priori expectations (Ware et al., 1983) – is an important criterion for health care quality and supports the development of health services (Samartzis and Talias, 2020).”
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“Questions for satisfaction were based on the eight characteristics of health care service described in Evaluation Model (Blum, 1998; Ware et al., 1983) in order to encompass participants' experience with a broad range of aspects.”
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- Authors
- Ware, J. E., Snyder, M. K., Wright, W. R., & Davies, A. R.
- Affiliations
- RAND Corporation (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ware, John E.
- ORCID
- Ware, John E.
- Venue
- Evaluation and Program Planning
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1983-01
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 247-263
- ISSN
- 0149-7189 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1988042859
- Cited by
- 1,259
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 47
- FWCI
- 26.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Evaluation and Program Planning (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship@UMassChan (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Quality and Management
- Keywords
- patient satisfaction, patient satisfaction survey, questionnaire development, Likert scale, reliability statistics, validity, technical skills, waiting time, emergency care, health care costs, insurance coverage, hospital availability, self-administered questionnaire
- MeSH terms
- Consumer Behavior, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Health Services Research, Illinois, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Research Design
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