ABSTRACT
Patient satisfaction is an indicator of service quality in hospitals, especially in the emergency departments. We evaluated this item and its factors in hospitals in Isfahan province in 2005. In a cross-sectional study 1372 patients in 48 emergency departments were assessed and data were collected on the basis of a questionnaire. Mean and total scores and percent of amounts of satisfaction were used. Anova and T-test were used and p < 0.05 was considered significant. 82.8 percent of patients were satisfied with services with mean score of 111.9+1- 14.8 from maximum score of 145. Care givers' speed, accuracy and behavior were domains with most score drug availability and costs took least scores. Private hospitals and those affiliated to special organizations and foundations and all university hospitals exhibited decreasing scores as 116.9, 113.6 and 109.6 respectively. Patients' educational level showed a reverse relation to satisfaction, singles were more satisfied than married. This study reveals costs and drug availability as the major causes of dissatisfaction, hence demanding more attention