The Measurement of Patients’ Satisfaction as a Key Indicator of Quality of Life for the Elderly: Two Services Compared

Abstract The ageing population and increasing life expectancy in Italy, and in other developed countries, leads to an increasing number of elderly people suffering from loss of autonomy and dangers due to frailty. As a consequence, elderly patients usually suffer from chronic diseases which require long term care, with increasing healthcare needs and costs. Therefore, services provided by home care, day centers and residential services are necessary; their primary objective being to maximize patient well-being and satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is a key indicator of the quality of care and is an important outcome of care in its own right. This study aimed to develop two generic instruments to elicit patients’ satisfaction in residential care and in home care with a rigorous and systematic methodology. The two instruments were tested for psychometric performance with face-to-face interviews and applied to a Local Health District of the Marche Region. Furthermore, due to physical and mentally frailty, many elderly patients in residential homes or receiving home care, are unable to participate in studies on satisfaction with care services, while their carers/partners can often provide relevant information. Therefore, another aim of this study was to measure patients’ and carers’/partners’ agreement on patient satisfaction in the two services investigated. Finally, the principal factors influencing patient satisfaction in the two services investigated were investigated using logistic regression analysis.