Abstract
Purpose :
Patient satisfaction surveys have been utilized to characterize and understand the patient experience in various healthcare settings. Little has been published on satisfaction surveys specifically with regard to outpatient ophthalmic care. Within the field of glaucoma, patient satisfaction survey research has focused on specific treatments - both medical and surgical. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible interactions between patient demographics, clinical factors, and other variables, and satisfaction survey responses.
Methods :
A 37-question satisfaction survey was administered to patients with glaucoma prior to their appointment in a Glaucoma Department at Wills Eye Hospital. Demographic data, glaucoma diagnosis, disease severity, and prior and current treatments were collected for each participant. Timing of appointment and care, visual acuity (VA) and visual field (VF) data, distance to patient’s home, and outside weather were documented. Correlation coefficients were calculated between patient satisfaction scores and patient specific variables. ANOVA test was used to compare satisfaction score differences between categorical variables.
Results :
A total of 69 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean (±SD) age was 67.9 (±14.0) years, and patients were predominantly female (59.4%, n=41/69). The most common type of glaucoma was open-angle glaucoma (81%, n=56/69). On a scale of 1 to 10, the mean (±SD) satisfaction score of the patients regarding their glaucoma specialist was 9.7 (±0.8). Nearly all (97.1%, n=67/69) would recommend the glaucoma specialist’s office to a family member or a friend. Satisfaction scores did not differ among gender or race groups (P=0.588 and P=0.164, respectively). There was no significant correlation between the mean satisfaction score and age (P=0.93), VA in the better eye (P=0.64), VF mean deviation in the better eye (P=0.12), cup-to-disc ratio (P=0.19), distance to patient’s home (P=0.46), office wait time (P=0.33), number of glaucoma medications (P=0.11), and outside weather (P=0.20).
Conclusions :
Glaucoma patients were highly satisfied with the eye care they received from their glaucoma specialists. There were no significant correlations between the investigated outcome measures and satisfaction levels, possibly due to the uniformly high satisfaction scores. Further analysis of patient satisfaction with non-medical doctor aspects of office visits will be presented.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.