Objective: Patient satisfaction with in-patient treatment and other aspects of process quality is usually examined cross-sectionally (e.g. at discharge). Therefore, the knowledge about changes in patient satisfaction and related issues, such as participation and motivation during the treatment period, is limited. This study describes the development of a questionnaire covering these topics and the course and variability in these domains for different subgroups.
Method: The study group comprises 88 adolescents (48 females, 40 males; aged 13 to 18 years) who delivered altogether 1,003 data points (median per person is 8). The questionnaire consisted of 16 items that were administered to them by computer twice a week at adolescent wards in two psychiatric departments. Statistical analysis was done using hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve models), which is well suited for the analysis of data with different numbers of assessment points and missing data.
Results: Psychometric properties of the questions were good. The trajectories for all items are very heterogeneous with regard to the level.. The trends (slope of the growth curves) are around 0 in general satisfaction, i.e. the adolescents stay on their different levels during the treatment period. Concerning participation, however, there are diverging trends, in particular between the two departments, which may reflect the difference in the treatment experience of the teams, whereas age, gender and diagnosis (internalizing vs. externalizing) play a minor role.
Conclusion: Evaluation of process characteristics has turned out to be feasible in clinical routine and promising for further insights into process quality.