Effect of communication disability on satisfaction with health care: a survey of medicare beneficiaries.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence and characteristics of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries reporting a communication disability and the relationship between that disability and dissatisfaction with medical care.


METHODS
A total of 12,769 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey respondents age 65 and older in 2001 were categorized by level of communication disability. Sampling weights were used to make inferences about the entire Medicare population.


RESULTS
Over 16 million beneficiaries reported a communication disability. Hearing problems were most commonly reported (41.99%). The association between dissatisfaction and communication disability was statistically significant (p <or= .05) for 8 of 10 items.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of dissatisfaction among those with a communication disability varied, ranging from 3.43% to 19.34%. Respondents with a communication disability reported much more dissatisfaction when compared with those respondents without a communication disability.
Hoffman
Jeanne M
JM
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-6490, USA. jeanneh@u.washington.edu
Yorkston
Kathryn M
KM
Shumway-Cook
Anne
A
Ciol
Marcia A
MA
Dudgeon
Brian J
BJ
Chan
Leighton
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*