Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a brief general questionnaire to assess satisfaction in patients with chronic disease. DESIGN: epidemiological, observational, multicentre cross-sectional study. LOCATION: 4 Primary Health Care Centers from the IV Health Area in the Principality of Asturias. SUBJECTS: A total of 202 patients diagnosed with chronic illness who were following a pharmacological regimen for at least one year. METHODS: An extensive literature review was conducted to create an initial item pool of 61 questions regarding patient satisfaction. Then, a forward-backward translation into Spanish was carried out. Next, both the expert (n=8) and patient (n=30) panels led to a new version of 34 items (concerning satisfaction with medication and satisfaction with health service). Finally, scale item reduction (item-total correlation and exploratory factorial analysis -EFA-) and psychometrical validation (feasibility, reliability and criterion validity) of the SAT-Q- were evaluated. Both the SAT-Q and the SF-12 (to assess patient health related quality of life) were applied. RESULTS: Item reduction analysis resulted in 18 items: general satisfaction with medication (3), adverse-events (3), oversights (2), effectiveness (3), convenience (4) and Health services (3). Internal consistency (Cronbach α) and Intraclass Correlation Coefficients were moderate-high. Moreover, significant positive correlations between SAT-Q scores and SF-12 Physical and Mental Summary Components were found (with the exception of oversights). CONCLUSIONS: A brief questionnaire for measuring satisfaction in chronic patients has been developed and preliminary validated.