The Influence of Patient and Hospital Characteristics on Inpatient Satisfaction at Beijing District-Level Hospitals

PURPOSE: Patient satisfaction is a key indicator of healthcare quality and hospital performance. This study aims to assess inpatient satisfaction at district-level hospitals and explore the determinants of inpatient satisfaction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1458 adults from inpatient departments of 47 district-level hospitals in 16 districts across Beijing were recruited with a multi-stage stratified sample at Beijing in 2019. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify the influence of patient and institutional characteristics on inpatient satisfaction in four domains – administrative process, hospital environment, medical care, hospitalization expenses, and overall satisfaction. RESULTS: Of the 1458 participants, 577 (39.6%) were men, 581 (39.8%) were over 60 years of age. The average value of satisfaction score measured by a 5-point Likert scale were 4.37, 4.00, 4.44, 3.89, and 4.33 for the four domains and overall satisfaction. Patient and institutional characteristics were strongly associated with inpatient satisfaction. Patients with higher educational level were more satisfied with administrative process (P<0.05). Elder patients and patients with worse self-reported health status were less satisfied with hospital environment (P<0.05). Female, higher monthly family income and Urban Employees Basic Medical Insurance were positively associated with patient satisfaction in hospitalization expenses (P<0.05). And patients receiving care in suburban hospitals were less satisfied with administrative process, hospital environment and overall satisfaction (P<0.05). Patients receiving care in Traditional Chinese Medicine hospitals were more satisfied with medical care and expenses but less satisfied with environment (P<0.05). Chronic disease and hospital grade were not significantly associated with satisfaction in all domains. CONCLUSION: Patient satisfaction was influenced by demographic characteristics and hospital features. These determinants should be considered in hospital evaluation.