Female adolescents' views on a youth-friendly clinic.
OBJECTIVE
To assess satisfaction among female patients of a youth-friendly clinic and to determine with which factors this was associated.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in an adolescent clinic in Lausanne, Switzerland, between March and May 2008. All female patients who had made at least one previous visit were eligible. Three hundred and eleven patients aged 12-22 years were included. We performed bivariate analysis to compare satisfied and non-satisfied patients and constructed a log-linear model.


RESULTS
Ninety-four percent of patients were satisfied. Satisfied female adolescents were significantly more likely to feel that their complaints were heard, that the caregiver understood their problems, to have no change of physician, to have received the correct treatment/help and to follow the caregiver's advice. The log-linear model highlighted four factors directly linked with patient satisfaction: outcome of care, continuity of care, adherence to treatment and the feeling of being understood.


CONCLUSIONS
The main point for female adolescent patient satisfaction lies in a long-term, trustworthy relationship with their caregiver. Confidentiality and accessibility were secondary for our patients.
Mauerhofer
Aurélie
A
Research Group on Adolescent Health, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Lausanne, Bugnon 17, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Berchtold
André
A
Akré
Christina
C
Michaud
Pierre-André
PA
Suris
Joan-Carles
JC
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D035502:Trust / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult