Drivers of paediatric inpatient experience: retrospective analysis of casemix factors for the Alberta Paediatric Inpatient Experience Survey in Alberta, Canada

OBJECTIVE: In Alberta, the Alberta Paediatric Inpatient Experience Survey (APIES) is used as a proxy-reported measure of paediatric experience. To our knowledge, the influence of casemix factors on patient experience as measured by paediatric patient experience surveys have not been reported within Canadian paediatric samples. In this paper, we sought to determine the patient and respondent factors associated with paediatric inpatient experiences in Alberta, Canada. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of patient experience survey data. SETTING: Inpatiet acute care hospitals in Alberta, Canada. INTERVENTION AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retrospective analyses were conducted using APIES surveys linked with eligible inpatient records (n=6262). Descriptive statistics were reported. χ(2) tests were performed to assess distribution of casemix between general and paediatric hospitals. Logistic regression was performed with overall hospital experience as the dependent variable with casemix and hospital variables as independent variables. RESULTS: Casemix characteristics were unevenly distributed between general and paediatric hospitals. Compared with reference categories, older respondents, healthier patients and treatment at paediatric facilities had increased odds of providing most-positive ratings. Increased respondent education was associated with decreased odds of providing most-positive ratings. Likelihood-ratio tests showed that most casemix variables improved model fit, except for respondent relationship to the patient. CONCLUSIONS: To improve reports of paediatric inpatient experience, administrators and providers require reliable and comparable measurement. Both the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems and other measures of patient and family experience need to consider patient and respondent characteristics when interpreting results. Considered with other research from patient experience in Alberta, we discuss future directions and quality improvement implications.