Psychiatric outpatients' experiences with specialized health care delivery. A Norwegian national survey

Abstract

Background: The measurement of patient experiences and satisfaction is recognized as an important component of health care evaluation, quality indicators, and performance.

Aim: To identify factors of importance for perceived patient experiences among psychiatric outpatients.

Methods: A validated questionnaire was administered as part of a postal survey of 15,422 adult outpatients attending psychiatric outpatient clinics across Norway.

Results: 6,677 (43.3%) responded to the survey. Analyses identified significant differences in patients' experiences related to age, gender, education, native language and daily activities. Regression analysis explained 71% of the variance in patient experiences. The three most important predictors of better experiences accounting for 45% of this variation were whether patients could influence the assignment of their own therapist, politeness and respect from the clinical staff and health professionals' cooperation with the patient's family.

Conclusions: Patient-centeredness and staff conduct were identified as the most important aspects of health care delivery that should be considered by outpatient clinics wishing to improve patients' experiences of care.

Declaration of interest: None.

Keywords:

• Patient experiences
• patient satisfaction
• psychiatry
• survey
• quality of care