Patient satisfaction in a comprehensive sectorized psychiatric service: Study of a 1-year-treated incidence cohort

As part of The Nordic Comparative Study on Sectorized Psychiatry, an invest igation of the quality of care in terms of patient satisfaction was perform ed in one of the seven participating centers, the Department of Psychiatry, Skelleftea, Sweden. The main study used a 1-year-treated incidence cohort, and all patients with 3 or more outpatient visits were included in the pre sent sample-in total, 216 patients. The response rate was 55% (n = 119). A rather thorough dropout analysis showed that severity of disorder or severa l social characteristics did not distinguish responders from non-responders . It is therefore assumed that the results are fairly representative of the included sample. The associations between levels of patient satisfaction a nd patient background characteristics, treatment and service characteristic s, and the patient's initial expectations of treatment were examined. There was a high overall satisfaction with services. Satisfaction with informati on procedures and the perceived coinfluence in the treatment planning showe d more negative results. Diagnosis, GAF score at index contact, various pat ient social characteristics, or initial level of expectations was not assoc iated with the level of satisfaction with services. It is concluded that pa tient satisfaction studies using standardized measures are an important par t of the quality assurance work of a comprehensive psychiatric service.