A NEW MEASURE OF PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH MAMMOGRAPHY - VALIDATION BY FACTOR-ANALYTIC TECHNIQUE

Background and objectives. The success of national breast screening pr ogrammes hinges on women's adherence. By monitoring patients' percepti ons, potential barriers to attendance may be detected, measured and po ssibly alleviated. Consequently a new questionnaire MGQ, measuring pat ients' experience of and satisfaction with mammography, has been devel oped. As discomfort is a predictor of non-attendance, a dimension meas uring physical and psychological discomfort was included. Methods. The internal structure of observed variables was tested using factor anal ysis as part of the validation process. The study was conducted in six radiological departments in Norway including 550 patients presenting for mammography. The analysis suggested eight factors explaining 56.7% of the variance. Results. Construct validity was supported since the factor scales covered all hypothesized dimensions and all but one subd imension. The factors were internally consistent and externally indepe ndent, indicating that distinct aspects of patients' experience with m ammography may be assessed and thus possibly improved. Conclusions. A relationship between pain and re-attendance was suggested as pain and worries about the next mammography belonged to the same factor. This u nderlines the importance of including a discomfort dimension when moni toring patient satisfaction with mammography.