141

PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH ENDOSCOPY IS INFLUENCED BY THE TIMING OF THE SURVEY

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 has become an increasingly important outcome measure of endoscopy; however, limited data is available on how/when to asses this. Whether patient satisfaction changes with time following the procedure is not yet known.
PURPOSE: To determine if patient satisfaction measured immediately following the procedure is correlated with measurements at a later date.
METHODS: The study was conducted in a single, tertiary care endoscopy unit in Vancouver, BC. From June to August 2006, a total of 265 patients presenting for esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), colonoscopy or both were surveyed. Two questionnaires (pre- and post-procedure) were administered the day of procedure. The questionnaires were developed based on the Group Health Association of America survey modified by the ASGE (mGHAA-9) and factors identified in the literature to be relevant to patient satisfaction. For follow-up, either a mail-out or phone survey (identical to the post-procedure questionnaire) was administered.
RESULTS: 141/265 (53%) patients were reached. The response rates for phone vs mail follow-up were 77/132 (58.3%) and 64/133 (48.1%), respectively. Mean follow-up time was 39 days (SD = 26) after procedure. Linear regression was applied to analyze whether patient satisfaction varied with follow-up time. Patients were less satisfied (Coef -0.35, p=0.029) and recalled experiencing more pain during procedures (0.44, 0.012) when questioned at a later date. Subgroup analysis revealed that patients were more likely to give a higher satisfaction rating over the phone compared to mail-out surveys (0.26, 0.047). Interestingly, the gender of the phone surveyor also influenced the patient's response. Patients were more likely to give a lower satisfaction rating when interviewed by a male surveyor (-2.48, 0.03).
CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant decrease in patient satisfaction as time elapsed from the procedure. Possible explanations include residual sedation influencing the initial response, the distinct settings in which the surveys were conducted, and recall bias.

PREVIOUS NEXT