Prehospital emergency care family satisfaction scale for care provided by emergency medical technicians: Scale development and validation.

RATIONALE: To date, family satisfaction with emergency medical technicians (EMTs) has only been reported through narrative statements in subjective evaluations. Although a quantitative assessment of healthcare professional satisfaction is desirable, no specific measures have been devised to assess family satisfaction with the healthcare and care provided by EMTs. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop and validate an EMT care family satisfaction scale to measure patient satisfaction with prehospital emergency care. METHODS: The study population comprised 216 family members (N = 216) of patients who used ambulances between November 2020 and May 2021 in a single region in Japan. Questionnaires were distributed to the participants who provided informed consent. An exploratory factor analysis of construct validity was performed to validate the Family Satisfaction Scale. The Cronbach's alpha was used to validate the internal consistency reliability of the scale. RESULTS: The exploratory factor analysis results revealed a four-factor structure: 'explanation and communication,' 'physical treatment,' 'psychological support,' and 'environment in the ambulance.' The Cronbach's range (0.80-0.93) for the total score for each of these four factors and the overall total score confirmed favorable internal reliability of this study. CONCLUSIONS: The family satisfaction scale developed in this study was constructed and validated to highlight the role of EMTs and needs of the families in the prehospital care settings. Moreover, this scale can be applied in the evaluation and consideration of interventions to improve family satisfaction with EMTs.

Prehospital emergency care patient satisfaction scale [PECPSS] for care provided by emergency medical teams: Scale development and validation.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an emergency medical technician (EMT) care patient satisfaction scale to measure patient satisfaction with prehospital emergency care. To date, patient satisfaction surveys of EMTs have been performed subjectively, e using each facility's questionnaire, without the use of a validated patient satisfaction scale. However, no specific scale has been devised to assess patient satisfaction with EMTs. The study population comprised patients who used an ambulance between November 2020 and May 2021 (N = 202). A survey instrument was administered to participants who provided informed consent. In the process of validating the patient satisfaction scale, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of construct validity was performed. The results of the EFA showed a factor structure consisting of five factors: "teamwork", "explanation and communication", "physical treatment and psychological support", "quickness of transport", and "environment in the ambulance". In addition, domain and summary scores showed good internal reliability (Cronbach's range = 0.82-0.94). The patient satisfaction scale developed in this study was designed and validated considering the role of EMTs and patients' needs for prehospital care. This scale may be useful in the development of assessments and interventions to improve patient satisfaction with EMTs.