Development of an Outpatient's Satisfaction Questionnaire for Hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Science

Hospitals are the most important healthcare organizations. The aim of the present study was to develop a questionnaire for assessing outpatients’ satisfaction in hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study، we selected 400 outpatients admitted to the hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The preliminary items were gathered using a systematic review of the related literature. Data were analyzed using the correlation matrix، t-test، ANOVAs and confirmatory factor analysis. Totally، 66. 2% of the outpatients were satisfied with the clinics’ healthcare services. The Cronbach’s alpha was calculated as 0. 81. According to the component matrix، the most loads (0. 148، 0. 147) were related to recommendation of the clinics to others، and total satisfaction with clinics’ healthcare services (item 12 and 14). Furthermore، the least load (0. 05) was related to satisfaction with the waiting time (item 2). There was a statistically significant correlation between the outpatients’ satisfaction and other factors including gender، type of hospital، education، age and employment. The findings of the present study can help to identify weaknesses، threats، strengths and opportunities in providing healthcare services in hospitals.