Determinants of Patient Satisfaction : Allergic Rhinitis Patients Treated with Laser Therapy / 예방의학회지

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the allergic rhinitis patients' satisfaction with laser surgery. The data were collected by telephone interviews with 211 patients who visited E university hospital. The statistical methods used for the analysis were factor analysis, reliability test, and hierarchical multiple regression. We find that satisfaction level is a function of not only the surgery outcome but also the socio-psychological experience during treatment. With the improvement in nasal allergic condition, patients were more likely to be satisfied with medical services. And patients who had positive experience with physicians and facilities reported higher satisfaction level. While the surgery outcome explained 68% of the variation of satisfaction level, socio-psychological experience explained 23% of it. This result clearly shows that physicians need to pay attention to the socio-psychological aspect as well as the technical aspect of medical services.