A third-party investigation of inpatient satisfaction with a tertiary hospital in People’s Republic of China

Figures & data

Table 1 Distribution of clinical departments and proportion of samples

Number	Department	Average hospitalization (n)	Samples (n)	Percentage
1	Vasculocardiology	166	45	27.11
2	Gastroenterology	147	43	29.25
3	Endocrinology	92	37j	40.12
4	Hematology	74	34	45.95
5	Nephrology	98	38	38.78
6	Pneumology	163	45	27.62
7	Oncology	227	48	21.15
8	Neurology	260	50	19.23
9	General surgery	313	51	16.29
10	Orthopedics	327	52	15.9
11	Plastic surgery	78	34	43.59
12	Neurosurgery	170	45	26.47
13	Thoracic surgery	89	36	40.41
14	Urology	75	34	45.33
15	Gynecology	242	49	20.25
16	Pediatrics	345	52	15.07
17	Otorhinolaryngology	174	45	25.86
18	Geriatrics	91	37	40.66
19	Pain	81	35	43.21
20	Dermatology	112	40	35.71
21	Traditional medicine	83	35	42.17
22	Rehabilitation	93	37	39.78
	Total	3,500	923	26.37

Table 2 Demographic characteristics (N=872)

Variable	Frequency	Percentage
Sex
Male	457	52.41
Female	415	47.59
Age group (years)
<18	92	10.55
19–39	170	19.50
40–59	304	34.86
60–79	247	28.33
>80	59	6.76
Marital status
Married	696	79.82
Single or divorced and separated	176	20.18
Education status
Junior middle graduate or less	544	62.36
High school graduate	213	24.45
College graduate or more	115	13.19
Occupation
Farmer	215	24.66
No job	109	12.50
Retiree	102	11.70
Othersa	363	41.62
Employed	83	9.52
Annual incomeb (US$)
0–4,782.79	522	59.86
4,782.79–15,942.61	288	33.03
15,942.61–31,885.21	49	5.62
>31,885.21	13	1.46
Residence
Shiyan	716	82.11
Outside Shiyan	156	17.89
Number of doctor visitsc
First	369	42.32
Fewer	175	20.07
Numerous	328	37.61

Notes:

a Others means freelancers and self-employed persons.

b The values of annual income are converted from 0 to 30,000 RMB, from 30,000 to 100,000 RMB, from 100,000 to 200,000 RMB and >200,000 RMB.

c Number of doctor visits means the number of visits to the hospital; fewer refers to visiting the hospital twice and numerous refers to visiting three times and above.

Abbreviation: RMB, Renminbi.

Table 3 Twenty items used to calculate the mean patient satisfaction score (SD) and standardized coefficients (beta)

Items	Mean score (SD)	Beta	Greece 2017	India 2017
Admission process	4.37 (0.69)	0.067	–d	–
Frequency of doctors’ ward rounds	4.18 (0.89)	0.086	–	–
Frequency of nurses’ ward rounds	4.15 (1.20)	0.116	–	–
Emergency response	4.68 (0.66)	0.064	–	3.87 (0.34)
Transparency	4.39 (0.66)	0.064	–	–
Informed consent	4.22 (0.88)	0.085	–	–
Protection of patient privacy	4.35 (0.67)	0.064	–	3.87 (0.33)
Doctors’ technical skill	4.43 (0.62)	0.06	–	–
Nurses’ technical skill	4.43 (0.63)	0.068	–	–
Auxiliary examination	4.09 (0.82)	0.061	–	–
Health education	4.38 (0.70)	0.079	–	–
Doctors’ attitudes toward service	4.32 (0.82)	0.079	3.80 (0.45)	3.97 (0.17)
Nurses’ attitudes toward service	4.43 (0.63)	0.061	3.69 (0.53)	3.80 (0.44)
Overall service process	4.36 (0.66)	0.064	–	–
Complaint management	4.02 (0.80)	0.077	–	–
Medical expenses	3.78 (0.93)	0.09	–	3.86 (0.39)
Hospital environment	4.17 (0.80)	0.077	3.52 (0.55)	3.79 (0.55)
Diet management	3.53 (1.34)	0.13	–	–
Patient identification	4.31 (0.64)	0.062	–	–
Medical ethics	4.33 (0.62)	0.06	–	–
Overall satisfaction	84.92 (10.34)	–	–	–

Note:

d Unreported data

Table 4 Overall satisfaction of patients with different sociodemographic characteristics

Variable	Frequency (n)	Percentage	Overall satisfaction score Mean±SD	t/F	P-value
Sex				0.746	0.456
Male	457	52.41	85.17±10.00
Female	415	47.59	84.64±10.70
Age group (years)				2.358	0.052
≤18	92	10.55	81.99±11.18
19–39	170	19.50	84.62±11.45
40–59	304	34.86	85.25±10.33
60–79	247	28.33	85.55±9.94
≥80	59	6.76	85.95±9.83
Marital status				−0.716	0.861
Married	696	79.82	84.89±10.46
Single or divorced and separated	176	20.18	85.04±9.88
Education status				5.165	0.006
Junior middle graduate or less	544	62.36	84.39±10.82
High school graduate	213	24.45	84.74±9.19
College graduate or more	115	13.19	87.77±9.58
Occupation				3.196	0.013
Farmer	215	24.66	82.95±10.04
No job	102	12.50	84.50±10.43
Retiree	109	11.70	85.43±11.24
Others	363	41.62	85.63±10.20
Employed	83	9.52	86.80±9.87
Annual income (US$)				3.520	0.015
0–4,782.79	522	59.86	84.14±10.67
4,782.79–15,942.61	288	33.03	85.77±9.88
15,942.61–31,885.21	49	5.62	86.71±8.98
>31,885.21	13	1.46	90.69±7.67
Residence				−2.745	0.006
Shiyan	716	82.11	84.47±10.44
Outside Shiyan	156	17.89	86.97±.60
Frequency of visits				9.114	0.000
First	369	42.32	82.25±10.45
Fewer	175	20.07	84.91±9.82
Numerous	328	37.61	86.34±10.58

Table 5 Multiple stepwise regression analysis of the risk factors affecting overall satisfaction score (N=872)

Variables	β	Standard error	Standardized coefficients (beta)	t	P-value	F	P-value
(Constant)	79.362	1.021		77.744	0.000	5.571	0.000
Annual income	1.370	0.531	0.089	2.579	0.010
Age	0.928	0.318	0.097	2.918	0.004
Residence	2.551	0.902	0.095	2.830	0.005
Education status (control: farmer)	1.109	0.494	0.077	2.245	0.025
Employed	3.860	1.312	0.110	2.943	0.003
Retiree	2.953	1.221	0.092	2.418	0.016
No job	1.454	1.195	0.047	1.217	0.224
Others	2.654	0.872	0.127	3.043	0.002

Figure 1 The importance matrix analysis modeling method.

Figure 2 The importance matrix analysis of inpatient satisfaction.

Notes: (1) Diet management; (2) Medical expenses; (3) Complaint management; (4) Frequency of nurses’ ward rounds; (5) Frequency of doctors’ ward rounds; (6) Informed consent; (7) Hospital environment; (8) Doctors’ service attitude; (9) Health education; (10) Admission process; (11) Nurses’ technical skill; (12) Auxiliary examination; (13) Patient identification; (14) Medical ethics; (15) Patients’ privacy protection; (16) Overall service process; (17) Transparency; (18) Nurses’ service attitude; (19) Doctors’ technical skill; (20) Emergency response.