title: Is patient satisfaction and perceived service quality with musculoskeletal rehabilitation determined by patient experiences?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the relationships between patient experiences and two overall evaluations - satisfaction and service quality - in outpatient rehabilitation settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, self-reported survey carried out in the year 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three outpatient rehabilitation units belonging to Spanish hospitals located in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and sixty-five outpatients (response rate 90%) mean age 39.4 (SD = 11.9) years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported experiences on aspects of care, participants' perception of service quality, satisfaction with care, socio-demographic and health characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Satisfaction and service quality were highly correlated (rho = 0.72, P< 0.001). Two multivariate logistic regression models using satisfaction and service quality (with adjusted R(2) 31.5% and 37.1%, respectively) indicated that patients' experiences and global rating of health improvement have more effect on those evaluations than socio-demographic characteristics. Mean satisfaction was 8.9 (SD = 1.2), and 88% of respondents described high service quality. However, nearly 25% of the respondents who reported high-quality evaluations also indicated a problem score of more than 50% in almost all aspects of care studied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Satisfaction and service quality provide a poor indicator of patients' experiences. Both are two proxies but distinct constructs in rehabilitation care. Besides, not all problems encountered by patients are equally important to them.
authors.affiliation: Regional Campus of International Excellence Campus Mare Nostrum, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. mirapeix@um.es
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Medina-Mirapeix
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Jimeno-Serrano
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Escolar-Reina
authors.forename: M Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Del Baño-Aledo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult