135

FACTORS INFLUENCING PATIENT SATISFACTION UNDERGOING ENDOSCOPIC PROCEDURES

H Ko, H Zhang, A Hassanali, R Manji, P Kazemi, L Soswa, J Telford, R Enns
Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Patient satisfaction with endoscopic procedures has become an increasingly important outcome measure in GI endoscopy. Very little data is available on factors that impact patient satisfaction.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to patient satisfaction with endoscopic procedures.
METHODS: The study was conducted in the endoscopy unit at St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC. From June to August 2006, a total of 265 patients presenting to the endoscopy unit for esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), colonoscopy or both were surveyed. Two questionnaires (pre- and post-procedure) were administered on the day of procedure. The questionnaires were developed based on the modified Group Health Association of America (mGHAA-9) survey and factors identified in previous studies to be relevant to patient satisfaction.
RESULTS: 261/265 (98%) patients completed the survey. The mean age was 55 (SD=14). 53% were male. 226 (86.6%) patients were very satisfied with the procedures, 32 (12.2%) somewhat satisfied, and only 3 (0.01%) found their experiences fair or stated they were dissatisfied. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between different factors and patient satisfaction. Factors that were positively associated with patients' satisfaction were: longer times (10 minutes increase) spent by the doctor explaining procedure to the patient (OR 1.660, p=0.04); doctor's personal manner (3.000, <0.0001); doctor's technical skills (2.646, <0.0003); nurses' personal manner (2.841, <0.0001); and physical environment (1.748, 0.0077). As expected, the higher the level of pain/discomfort patient experienced during the procedure, the less likely the patient was to be satisfied (0.572, 0.0160). Procedure wait time, length of procedure, and patient's anxiety level before and during the procedure were not significantly associated with satisfaction.
CONCLUSION: This study identified factors related to patient satisfaction with endoscopic procedures. Besides pain control, there are other equally important areas that we can modify to enhance positively patients' experience with endoscopic procedures.

PREVIOUS NEXT