As a novelty, this article proposes the empirical operationalization of an indicator sensitive to nursing care called patient satisfaction based on functional capacity and quality of life assessments. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a sample of 351 individuals aged 65 and older residing in the community. Data acquisition was performed using the structured interview method, employing a core set of 25 codes taken from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health and the WHOQOL-BREF instrument of the World Health Organization. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to infer the reliability and construct validity of the proposed model, involving three latent factors: functional capacity, quality of life, and patient satisfaction with nursing care received. The proposed model showed good reliability and construct validity, although it failed regarding discriminant validity between latent factors. The greatest statistically significant predictor of the patient satisfaction latent factor was the quality of life latent factor ([Formula: see text]), followed by the functional capacity latent factor ([Formula: see text]). The findings seem to suggest that patient satisfaction is an indicator that may be quantitatively measurable, with functional capacity and quality of life considered very significant predictors of patient satisfaction with the nursing care experience.
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