This paper assesses the psychometric qualities of the Patient Experience Questionnaire (PEQ), thereby validating a patient-oriented measurement model in a hospital environment, and modifies the model based on empirical results. This study employed survey data gathered by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health from adult inpatients at somatic hospitals in the Health South-East RHF in Norway. The survey engaged 4603 patients out of 8381 from five main hospitals in the region. The study found that an eight-factor model of the PEQ generally showed good fitness to the data, but assessment of discriminant validity showed that this was not the optimal factor solution among four of the eight dimensions. After comparing models, the study proposed a model with a second-order factor for four of the factors: "nurse services", "doctor services", "information", and "organization", collectively named "treatment services". The proposed model demonstrated good validity and reliability results. The results present theoretical and practical implications. The study recommends that inferential analyses on the PEQ should be done with the second-order factor. Furthermore, a revision of the PEQ is recommended subject to more confirmatory studies with larger samples in different regions. The study indicates a second-order factor structure for assessing and understanding patient experiences-a finding which has both theoretical and managerial implications.
Keywords: CFA; Norway; PREMs; hospital; patient experiences; psychometrics; second-order factor.