Evaluating Customer Satisfaction with Colonoscopy

Abstract

Twenty patients were interviewed shortly after colonoscopy, and the adjectives and phrases they used to describe the experience were formed into a 31-item questionnaire, on which each item was rated using a seven-point scale. This questionnaire was completed by 110 similar patients. Principal components analysis of these responses yielded three components: satisfaction, physical discomfort, and emotional distress. This demonstrates that patients' experience of colonoscopy is multi-dimensional; whether or not a patient feels satisfied is unrelated to how distressing or uncomfortable it is. Component-based scale scores were calculated so as to quantify every patient's experience on each dimension. Procedures performed by the most experienced endoscopist were no less uncomfortable than others, but they were less distressing. Female patients experienced more discomfort than males, but were no more distressed or less satisfied. This questionnaire could be useful in any future audit of colonoscopy from the patients' point of view.

Patient Acceptability and Psychologic Consequences of CT Colonography Compared with Those of Colonoscopy: Results from a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial of Symptomatic Patients

“…Patients undergoing colonoscopy were less satisfied than those undergoing CT colonography (median score of 61 and interquartile range [IQR] of 55-67 vs median score of 64 and IQR of 58-70, respectively; P = .008) and significantly more worried (median score of 16 [IQR,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] vs 15 [IQR, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], P = .007); they also experienced more physical discomfort (median score of 39 [IQR, 29-51] vs 35 [IQR,) and more adverse events (82 of 246 vs 28 of 122 reported feeling faint or dizzy, P = .039). However, at 3 months, they were more satisfied with how results were received (median score of 4 [IQR, [3][4] vs 3 [IQR, , P , .0005) and less likely to require follow-up colonic investigations (17 of 230 vs 37 of 107, P , .0005).…”

“…Satisfaction, worry, and discomfort measures were derived from a previously validated and utilized acceptability measure of colonoscopy (11,13). All subscales met accepted thresholds for reliability (Cronbach a = 0.85, 0.72, 0.85, respective to satisfaction, worry, and discomfort).…”

“…Sedation was used for approximately 80% of investigations, and analgesia was used for approximately 87% of investigations, as judged clinically necessary. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], P = .007). Two items reached significance-"worried" and "worried about what they would find"-with patients undergoing colonoscopy responding less favorably (Table 2).…”

“…We observed a trend toward higher levels of negative affect for patients undergoing colonoscopy than those undergoing CT colonography (median of 12 [IQR, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] for colonoscopy vs median of 11 [IQR,[10][11][12][13][14][15] for CT colonography). However, this did not reach significance (P = .050).…”

Nonlaxative PET/CT Colonography: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Pilot Performance in Patients at Higher Risk of Colonic Neoplasia

“…A questionnaire, previously validated for patients undergoing colonoscopy (20), was administered to patients after both the PET/CT colonography and the colonoscopy (Supplemental Appendix 1; supplemental materials are available online only at http://jnm.snmjournals.org). Patients completed the questionnaires at home on the day after each test.…”