Mental illness as a predictor of satisfaction with inpatient care at Veterans Affairs hospitals

Objective: Patient satisfaction ratings are increasingly being used as an i ndicator of quality of care. However, satisfaction scores do not account fo r differences in satisfaction among patients that may be attributable to so ciodemographic characteristics or-type of illness rather than to the qualit y of service delivery. This study examines the role of psychiatric diagnosi s in satisfaction with inpatient care delivered at Department of Veterans A ffairs (VA) hospitals, Methods: Data were taken from a large national VA cu stomer feedback survey of patients discharged from VA hospitals between Jun e 1 and August 31, 1995 (N=38,789), Analyses examined whether patients disc harged with a psychiatric diagnosis were less satisfied with care than thos e discharged with a nonpsychiatric diagnosis, Results: patients with a psyc hiatric diagnosis were less:satisfied with their care, regardless of whethe r they were treated in a psychiatric treatment program or a medical unit, a nd this relationship remained after the analysis adjusted for other determi nants of satisfaction; The association between low satisfaction and psychia tric diagnosis was more pronounced among nonblack patients, Conclusions: Th e results suggest the need for caution in using patient satisfaction measur es to compare mental health programs and other health care programs.