A third-party investigation of inpatient satisfaction with a tertiary hospital in People’s Republic of China

BACKGROUND: Conflicts between doctors and patients occur in People’s Republic of China each year. Serious negative relationships between doctors and patients are a significant social problem. This study aims to evaluate the satisfaction of inpatients in a tertiary hospital through a third party and analyze the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and overall satisfaction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional investigation was conducted to obtain the demographic information and results for 20 items in an inpatient satisfaction questionnaire. A total of 872 inpatients were studied. Descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS version 22.0 software. Independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the mean differences between groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to study the relationship between different demographic characteristics and overall satisfaction. P-values of <0.05 were considered significant. Matrix analysis was used to predict which of the 20 items had a higher priority for patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Among the respondents, valid questionnaires were completed by 872 patients, with a response rate of 94.47% (872/923). The hospital inpatient satisfaction score was 84.92±10.34. Among the sociodemographic characteristics, education status, occupation, annual income, residence and frequency of visits were related to inpatient satisfaction and were statistically significant (P<0.05). However, sex, age and marital status were not significantly different in terms of the inpatient satisfaction score (P>0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis results showed that residence, age, occupation and education status were the factors affecting inpatient satisfaction. In further analyses, diet management, medical expenses, complaint management and hospital environment were in urgent need of improvement. CONCLUSION: The overall level of inpatient satisfaction with this hospital seems to be acceptable, although areas for improvement remain.