The Assessment of Foodservice Satisfaction by Orthopedic Patients according to their Involvement

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the quality of hospital food services in view of patients in orthopedic wards and accomplish the quality improvement in hospital foodservice operations. Quantitative questionnaires for patients containing foodservice satisfaction and demographic information were developed. A survey of 8 general hospitals was undertaken and detailed information was collected from 290 patients in orthopedic wards. The collected data were processed using the SAS PC 6.12 for descriptive analysis, t-test. In demographic information of patients, 32.6% was over 50 years old and 31% was hospitalized over 30 days. 80% of patients was taking normal diet. 47.7% and 47.9% of patients showed moderate appetite and moderate pain respectively. The overall satisfaction score for patients was 3.24 out of 5, showing slightly higher level than the average score(3.00). According to foodservice involvement scores of patients, they were divided into two groups which were high involved group and low involved group. Two groups showed significant differences in taste of meals, variety of menu, punctuality of meal times, temperature of meals and portion size. The foodservice involvement factor which affected significantly patient foodservice satisfaction was 'kindness of foodservice staff'.