THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEETING PATIENTS INFORMATION NEEDS AND THEIRSATISFACTION WITH HOSPITAL-CARE AND GENERAL HEALTH-STATUS OUTCOMES

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if there is an association between meeting patients' information needs and their ove rall satisfaction with care and their general health status outcomes, Study design: This non-experimental study used data from hospital medi cal records as well as patient-completed surveys conducted two and eig ht weeks post discharge, The setting involved three community hospital s in the southeastern section of the US that provided care to a series of 167 acute myocardial infarction (Acute MI) patients. Measures: The independent variable was an index measuring how well patients' inform ation needs were met, The dependent variables were patient satisfactio n (ratings of satisfaction with care process, global satisfaction, and health benefit) and general health status outcomes (physical function , psychosocial function and quality of life), Covariates used as contr ol variables to hold patient characteristics constant, included demogr aphics (age, gender) and clinical measures of acute MI severity, comor bidity, angina (at eight weeks), and dyspnea (at eight weeks), Analysi s: Univariate analyses were employed to: (1) describe patients' charac teristics; (2) determine the relative importance of meeting different types of information needs; and (3) identify information need areas mo st likely not to be met, Multivariate linear regression and logistic r egression was used to evaluate the association between patients' ratin gs of meeting information needs with satisfaction and health outcomes, respectively, after controlling for covariates, Results: The multivar iate regression results show that meeting information needs are positi vely and significantly associated with both patient satisfaction measu res (i.e. Ratings of Care Processes, p < 0.01; Global Satisfaction, p < 0.05, Perceived Health Benefit, p < 0.01) and one general health sta tus measure (i.e. Quality of Life, p < 0.01), Conclusion: The results suggest that providers of care should ensure that they meet the inform ation needs of patients with specific conditions because patients' per ceptions of both quality of care and quality of life are associated wi th the clinicians' ability to transfer key information to their patien ts. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.