title: Patient care encounters with the MCHL: a questionnaire study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Both internationally and nationally, the medical care help line (MCHL) is a growing operation within the healthcare field. In Sweden, approximately 5 million calls per year are processed. The service is managed by specially trained nurses.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe how patients' sex, age, education level and care level influenced their perceptions of care encounters with the MCHL.
  A questionnaire was designed through the operationalisation of terms based on a previous interview study with MCHL callers. It was distributed to 858 callers in a region of southwest Sweden. The questionnaire was comprised of 14 visual analogue scales (VAS). Validity and reliability were determined to be acceptable by a pilot study and factor analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Response frequency n = 517 (60.4 %). Three factors, interaction, service and product, emerged to describe high satisfaction with the MCHL from different perspectives. The items 'friendliness', 'respect', 'confirmation', 'accessibility' and 'simplicity' scored highest, whereas the 'joint decision-making', 'composure' and 'time' items had the lowest values.
  A new questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability was created on the basis of an interview study examining patient encounters with the MCHL. The new questionnaire may provide useful support in the education of MCHL nurses and other nurses in telephone triage. It can also be used for quality development and as a basis for further research on telephone nursing.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Unit, Primary Health Care, Halland, Sweden. mayvor.strom@lthalland.se
authors.forename: Mayvor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ström
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baigi
authors.forename: Cathrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hildingh
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.forename: Bertil
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marklund
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005791:Patient Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden