title: The relationship between health status, social support and satisfaction with medical care among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effect of physical and mental health status and social support on patient satisfaction with health care in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a cross-sectional design, 220 SLE patients were recruited from rheumatology departments in two hospitals in the Montreal (Canada) area. Data comprised physician-rated indices of health status and patient-completed questionnaires.
  
  
  METHODS
  Independent variables included demographics, disease duration, physician-rated indices of disease activity (SLAM-R) and disease damage (SLICC/ACR), patient self-reported health status (SF-36), and perceived social support (ISEL). Patient satisfaction with medical care (PSQ-IV) was the dependent variable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Univariate analyses were performed to describe the sample and examine univariate associations between the independent variables and patient satisfaction with medical care. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was computed to determine the relative importance of physician-rated indices of health status, self-reported physical and mental health status and social support on patient satisfaction after controlling for demographic variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A multivariate hierarchical regression computed to predict patient satisfaction included the following variables in the equation: age, education, income (step 1), disease duration, SLAM-R, SLICC/ACR (step 2), mental and physical health status (step 3), and perceived social support (step 4). Less education (P< 0.01), better self-reported mental (P< 0.05) and physical health status (P< 0.005) and higher perceived social support (P< 0.005) were significant predictors of patient satisfaction (R2 = 0.15, P< 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that self-reported physical and mental health status and social support are more important than clinical status variables in understanding patient satisfaction with medical care.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, The Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Québec, Canada. Deborah@vax2.concordia.ca
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Da Costa
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Dobkin
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Senecal
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Fortin
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Danoff
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Esdaile
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors