Assessment of patient satisfaction as a quality health indicator in a physical therapy service

Abstract

Introduction: it is important the evaluation of user satisfaction, as an indicator of quality in health care. A satisfied patient is more willing to follow therapeutic recommendations to improve their health. Objective: to describe user satisfaction with physical therapy care and identify factors associated with less satisfaction. Material and methods: an observational, cross-sectional, and analytical survey-type study was conducted in patients at the physical therapy service at the end of their treatment at the National Institute of Rehabilitation «Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra» (INRLGII), from January to December 2022. The MedRisk and Patient Satisfaction with Physical Therapy Questionnaire (PSQ-E) were answered personally by each patient. Other variables were collected from the medical records. We described sociodemographic data using percentages and compared mean satisfaction across interest groups using the Student’s t-test. Results: we analyzed 323 user surveys. The mean satisfaction was 4.4 (0.6) with PSQ-E and 4.6 (0.5) for MedRisk. We detected 125 responses classified into three

different areas of opportunity by the PSQ-E. The determinants associated with less satisfaction were basic schooling, users with paid activity, diagnosis > 1 year and group sessions. Conclusion: although more than 80% of the users were satisfied with the care received using two different instruments, the PSQ-E detects areas of opportunity. We must encourage the search for indicators that guide us towards continuous improvement.