title: [Usefulness of multilevel analysis of satisfaction questionnaires on clinical units and medical specialties].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluate the usefulness of multilevel analysis applied to satisfaction surveys to assess the ambulatory care offered by the Clinical Units and Medical Specialties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Telephone surveys were conducted on 6,922 patients seen in outpatient visits in the Navarra Health System in order to assess 94 Clinical Units and 37 Medical Specialties. A hierarchical analysis was then performed at 3 levels (patients, Clinical Units and Medical Specialties).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient explained between 91.7% and 99.3% of the variability in the satisfaction survey scores. The patient perception of service quality also depends of the clinical unit, in 18 out of 20 items analysed, the variance related to the Clinical Unit was statistically significant, and ranged from 0.9% and 8.3%. The Medical Specialty explained 4.2% of the variability in only one item. Patients aged under 65 years, patients seen in first visit, and those who were seen at tertiary hospitals gave the lowest scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multilevel analysis is a useful tool to analyse and compare satisfaction survey results, as it can correctly distinguish the different Clinical Units of a health service, and this is a key element in the management of these Units. Moreover, it gives the percentage of variability due to each level and which variables predict the quality of service obtained.
authors.affiliation: Servicio A de Medicina Preventiva y Gestión de la Calidad, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Pamplona, España. mi.rodrigo.rincon@cfnavarra.es
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Rodrigo-Rincón
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Viñes-Rueda
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guillén-Grima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult