Abstract: Objectives: Revalidation of a survey instrument assessing
patients' experiences with care in hospital. To determine the
suitability of the questionnaire for its use in internal and external quality
management. Methods: Postal survey, 11 826 patients from 31 hospitals received
a questionnaire after discharge. Psychometric evaluation was done via
exploratory factor analysis and reliability and regression analysis. The
questionnaire's ability to differentiate between subgroups and
between hospitals was evaluated. Results: The mean response rate was 60%. Nine
factors (Cronbach's α between 0.6 and 0.9) were extracted,
explaining 57% of the variance. Age, subjective assessment of health and
hospital size seem to be associated with patients' willingness to
recommend the hospital to family and friends. This applies particularly for
those aspects where the interaction between patient and health professionals
and a successful communication between them is concerned. Conclusions: Due to
its good psychometric properties, the ability to differentiate between
hospitals and its practicability the questionnaire is well suited for use in
internal and external quality management of hospitals.
Keywords: Patient survey, quality management, patient experience, questionnaire development