title: Patient satisfaction in a university hospital emergency department in Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patient satisfaction, an indicator of the quality of care provided by emergency department (ED) personnel, is a significant issue for EDs. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with patient satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and to describe demographic characteristics of those surveyed in a university hospital ED.
  
  
  METHODS
  All adult patients who consecutively presented to the ED between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays were included in the study. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire prior to discharge. The questionnaire asked about the attitude, politeness, and efficiency of the medical and ancillary staff, the reason for preferring our centre and reasons for dissatisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two-hundred and forty-five adult patients presenting to our ED were included in this study. Forty-five percent of patients preferred our ED because of the previous perception of higher quality of care, informed by other people previously treated in this ED unit, and 35% because of restrictions by their health insurance carrier. The main causes of patient dissatisfaction were lengthy waiting times (27%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As a result, lengthy waiting time was the major reason for patient dissatisfaction, and high quality care together with insurance restrictions were the main reasons for preference of this university hospital ED.
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University Medical School, Gaziantep, Turkey. cyildirim@gantep.edu.tr
authors.forename: Cuma
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kocoglu
authors.forename: Sitki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goksu
authors.forename: Nurullah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gunay
authors.forename: Haluk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Savas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003625:Data Collection; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014421:Turkey