Anaesthesia
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Patients' involvement in all decision processes is becoming increasingly important in modern healthcare. Patient satisfaction is a sensitive measure of a well-functioning health service system. The objective of this review is to discuss patient satisfaction as part of outcome quality, to define the somewhat abstract term 'satisfaction', and to discuss the role of surrogate markers within the field of satisfaction with anaesthesia care. We critically discuss what is relevant to satisfy patients with anaesthesia care, and we provide guidance on improving satisfaction.
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The construction of a new, valid and reliable questionnaire to measure patient satisfaction is a complex and time-consuming task. It must follow a rigorous, step-by-step approach, and should as a minimum include elements of content validity, criterion validity, construct validity and reliability. The objective of this review is to present a protocol for the construction of a psychometric questionnaire, supplemented by practical aspects for researchers and clinicians.