ObjectivesMeasuring patient satisfaction is an important aspect of making services attractive to patients and improving service delivery, and outpatient based clinics are increasingly assessing service quality using patient based outcome measures. No systematic review of patient satisfaction in sexually transmitted infection clinics has previously been performed.The objectives of the review were:• To establish how patient satisfaction with sexual health services has been defined and measured• To identify whether a 'gold standard' method exists• To identify the themes regarded by patients as priorities for delivering a quality service within a sexually transmitted infection clinic setting
MethodsA search of eight electronic journal databases and unpublished data sources was used to identify studies measuring patient satisfaction in a sexually transmitted infection clinic setting. Following initial review of each abstract, data from eligible studies were extracted by two independent reviewers and content analysis used to identify common themes.
Patient experience of and satisfaction with health-care services is increasingly being used to evaluate and guide health-care provision. A recent systematic review failed to identify a validated method of measuring patient satisfaction in sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics. The aim of this study was to design and validate a specific STI clinic patient satisfaction survey that could be used as a patient-derived outcome measure. Key themes of importance to patients were identified from a recent systematic review of STI clinic patient satisfaction surveys. Semi-structured interviews were performed with patients attending a sexual health clinic to further refine these themes, and then used to compile a patient questionnaire. Cognitive testing was used to provide face validity for the questionnaire design, layout and wording. The questionnaire was further reviewed and revised by the research team prior to being piloted over a five-week period. Five key patient themes were incorporated into the questionnaire and the pilot phase included responses from 936 patients. The completion rate for individual items and the whole questionnaire (95% [885/936]) was high. Internal consistency and validity also scored highly.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.