ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To develop and test the validity and reliability of a brief self-completed questionnaire (Service Satisfaction Scale: SSS) for routinely assessing the quality of service in psychiatric ward inpatients. METHODS: A 30-item multidimensional questionnaire was developed by several steps of face validity and content validity. The questionnaire was administered to inpatients (n=348) discharged from psychiatric hospitals, general hospitals, and university hospitals. Construct validity was supported by performing principal component analysis. Reliability was estimated by calculating internal consistency of Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Factor analysis yielded five factors comprising staff attitude, treatment quality, ward environment, access/cost, and ward rule, which account for 63.04% of the common variance. The internal consistency of the scale was high (Cronbach's alpha=0.95). The concurrent validity was supported by the significant correlation of each of five factors with item that measured overall satisfaction of SSS. Patients with neurosis (anxiety disorder, somatoform disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder) and mood disorders were significantly satisfied than those with psychosis and alcoholic disorders. Patients who admitted voluntarily were more significantly satisfied than those who admitted involuntarily. Sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, marital status, monthly income, education level, employment status and religion were not significantly different at the total scores of SSS. Similarly, clinical characteristics such as age of onset, duration of illness, lengths of hospital stay and number of previous hospitalization did not associate significantly with the total scores of SSS. Patients discharged from university hospitals were significantly more satisfied than those of the general and psychiatric hospitals. CONCLUSION: SSS performed well in the validity and reliability, indicating that it can be a useful tool for measuring satisfaction of psychiatric inpatients in Korea.