The construct "patient satisfaction": A critical review

This article reviews the theoretical background and empirical literature of the construct ,,patient satisfaction". Patient satisfaction is usually see n as a patient's subjective judgement on a medical or psychological treatme nt, which is based on a-priori-expectations. Typically the classification o f Ware et al. (1983) ist used, however, the construct suffers from conceptu al shortcomings. The ratings on satisfaction scales are regularly extremely high, correlations with characteristics of the patient, the treatment and a-priori-expectations are weak. Qualitative studies show, that commonly use d models are too simplistic in nature and that patient satisfaction scales are often no valid measures of patient judgements.