The German adaptation of the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale: An instrument for patients' satisfaction with mental health care

Aim: Measuring effectiveness and quality of care became an important topic in psychiatry. Considering that objective criteria were not sufficient in t he past, the subjective perspective gained growing interest. Client satisfa ction is an important variable to evaluate psychiatric care. Patient satisf action can influence treatment outcome as well as it determines the psychia tric system itself. Method: The Italian original version of the Verona Serv ice Satisfaction Scale (VSSS-54) was translated and adapted to the German l anguage. The instrument has been tested in the project "Cost-effectiveness of psychiatric service systems". The process of development, the psychometr ic testing and the practical application of the German version will be pres ented in this paper. Additional advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Results: As psychometric properties of the instrument correspond to conven tional standards, they are comparable with the results of an international study. The drop out of items cannot be controlled, therefore analysing the data is difficult. Conclusion: Although the VSSS shows various methodologic al limitations, it is at the moment an appropriate instrument for measuring patient satisfaction in the German language.