title: "Tendency to excuse" and patient satisfaction of those suffering with breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to analyse the extent to which breast cancer patients excuse inconveniences that occur during their hospitalisation, and how this "tendency to excuse" affects their satisfaction with the hospital stay.
  
  
  METHODS
  Breast cancer patients undergoing treatment at one of 51 breast centres in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) in 2009 were asked to complete the Cologne Patient Questionnaire-Breast Cancer (CPQ-BC). For the analyses, the "tendency to excuse" scale was subdivided into three groups. Linear regressions were performed to investigate associations between the "tendency to excuse" and patient satisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  88 % (3,950) of the patients completed the questionnaire. The results show that the inpatients excused inconsistencies to a moderate degree. The "excusers" and "non-excusers" showed greater satisfaction with hospital services than the "medium-excusers".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The "tendency to excuse" scale could aid future data analysis of patient satisfaction surveys by identifying patients who are more likely to answer in an unbiased fashion. According to hospital survey outcomes, adjusting for the "tendency to excuse" scale however, does not lead to substantially different results when comparing health care providers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Human Science and Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Medical Sociology, Health Services Research and Rehabilitation Science, University of Cologne, Eupener Str. 129, 50933, Cologne, Germany. binidavoll@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davoll
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuhr
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ommen
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ernstmann
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pfaff
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D018567:Breast Neoplasms, Male / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D061347:Forgiveness; D005858:Germany; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires