title: The validity of patient satisfaction as single question in outcome measurement of total hip arthroplasty.
abstract: Patient satisfaction is an important goal in orthopaedic surgery; however, it may not always reflect the surgical result that is obtained. By means of a systematic review according to the QUOROM criteria, we investigated how often satisfaction measured by a single question was used in trials reporting on the clinical outcome of total hip arthroplasty. This review showed that in 2006, 24.4% of these trials reported on satisfaction obtained by a single question. To assess the validity of satisfaction as a single question, a randomly selected group of 106 patients were questioned at an average of 15.5 years after a total hip arthroplasty (THA; range 4.2 -29.8 years). Questioning consisted of a Likert 5 scale satisfaction question and the Harris Hip Score. Satisfaction as a single question showed to have a poor construct and content validity. Despite the fact that satisfaction may be an important outcome measure, it cannot be judged as a reflection of a good result of the surgical intervention alone when evaluated using a single question.
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haverkamp
authors.forename: I N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Sierevelt
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: van den Bekerom
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Poolman
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Marti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult