Assessment of patient satisfaction of mentally ill patients hospitalized in Thailand

Abstract

Psychiatric patients' satisfaction with their hospital care has not been reported in the Western literature. The concept of asking psychiatric patients about their perceptions of care is relatively new. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the satisfaction of the care received by a group of acutely mentally ill hospitalized Thai patients. This post-test design examined a random sample of 182 persons hospitalized between 1 March 2000 and 31 July 2000. Using a validated Perception of Care instrument, research assistants assessed patient satisfaction. Patients rated the care as average with none of the items achieving a very good or excellent score. The lowest scoring items were receiving information about their rights, consistency of information provided, and the ease of obtaining information. Women tended to be more satisfied with care as were patients over the age of 55 years (P = 0.02). Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were more satisfied with the care than other patients (P = 0.05). It is unknown if satisfaction levels are similar in other institutions in Thailand. None of the areas received excellent or very good ratings. The findings of this study were shared with the staff at the study site. There appears to be a need to develop performance improvement activities designed to address the areas identified as needing improvement. Replication of this study in other Thailand sites would provide an opportunity for agencies to benchmark their findings. By consenting to be a part of this study the staff and patients have taken a positive step forward to improve patient satisfaction with care.

Satisfaction with Ain Shams outpatient mental health services

“…Similar to our results, most studies found no significant sex difference [7,41,42]. Others found that women had higher satisfaction scores than men [37,43]. Also, age was reported to be correlated with aspects of service satisfaction in most studies [43], but not in others [41].…”

“…Others found that women had higher satisfaction scores than men [37,43]. Also, age was reported to be correlated with aspects of service satisfaction in most studies [43], but not in others [41]. With regard to clinical attributes, there is a big difference between studies.…”

Assessment of Acutely Mentally Ill Patients' Satisfaction of Care: There Is a Difference Among Ethnic Groups

“…However, it seems logical to discuss the effect of a few key variables deemed critical by the research team based on their clinical experiences in previous research and the literature review, which suggested that variables such as diagnosis, age, gender, length of stay, and legal status are related to patient satisfaction (Greenwood, Key, Burns, Bristow, & Sedgwick, 1999;Thapinta, Anders, Wiwatkunupakan, Kisumban, & Vadtanapong, 2004). …”

“…In a study of psychiatric inpatients in Thailand using the Perception of Care (POC) instrument (that had been translated and validated in Thai), Thapinta, Anders, Wiwatkunupakan, Kisumban, and Vadtanapong (2004) found the patients rated their care "average" with none of the items achieving a very good or excellent score. The lowest scoring items were the items that asked the patients about the information they received about their rights, consistency of information provided, and the ease of obtaining information.…”

“…Some of the confounding variables include validity and reliability of the instrument, questions about the degree of competency of the patient to report objectively their experiences, patient demographics, inconsistent administration of the assessment instrument, and concerns by the patient that adverse reporting may impact their future care. Ethnicity and its relationship to satisfaction with inpatient psychiatric care has received limited attention in previous studies (Gillispie, William, & Gillispie, 2005;Greenwood, Key, Burns, Bristow, & Sedgwick, 1999;Latham, 1996;Olfson, Hansell, & Boyer 1997;Perreault, Rogers, Leichner, & Sabourin, 1996;Ricketts, 1996;Rosenheck, Wilson, & Meterko, 1997;Rosenthal & Shannon, 1997;Thapinta, Anders, Wiwatkunupakan, Kisumban, & Vadtanapong, 2004).…”