Gender difference on patients' satisfaction and expectation towards mental health care

Niger J Clin Pract. 2013 Jul-Sep;16(3):285-91. doi: 10.4103/1119-3077.113448.

Abstract

Background: Recognizing patient satisfaction and expectation is considered as important components of assessing quality of care.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the gender difference on the patient satisfaction with psychiatrists and explore their expectation from physicians to mental health care needs.

Design: This is a prospective cross sectional study conducted during the period from April 2009 to July 2009.

Setting: Psychiatry hospital of the Hamad Medical Corporation.

Subjects: A total of 1300 psychiatry patients aged 18 to 65 years were approached and 1054 (81.1%) patient's participated in this study. The study sample included only Qatari and other Arab nationals.

Materials and methods: The study was based on a face to face interview with a designed Patient Doctor Relationship Questionnaire (PDRQ). A standard forward-backward procedure was applied to translate the English version of the PDRQ to Arabic. The main outcome measures of the study were 13-item patient doctor relationship questionnaire (PDRQ) score and other 11 items assessing what patients need from psychiatrists. Also, Socio-demographic data of the patients were collected. PDRQ was administered by qualified nurses among the psychiatry patients.

Results: Of the studied patients, 50.9% were males and 49.1% were females. Male patients (55.5%) were more satisfied with the treatment of psychiatrists than females (44.5%). A significant association was observed between male and female patients in terms of marital status (P = 0.02), number of children (P < 0.001), education level (P = 0.001) and monthly household income (P = 0.03). The satisfaction level significantly increased with higher education in both the groups (P = 0.001). The satisfaction level of male patients was significantly higher than female patients in most of the satisfaction areas (P ≤ 0.001). Male patients had significantly high expectations from psychiatrists than females (P < 0.001). Both the groups had different attitude in assessing mental health needs.

Conclusion: The study findings revealed that in general, psychiatry patients were quite satisfied with the services provided by the psychiatrists and the study found a gender difference in their satisfaction level with the mental health care. Male patients had significantly greater expectations from psychiatrists than females. The individuals of lower socio-economic status and less education tend to be less satisfied with the mental health care.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / therapy*
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Satisfaction*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Quality of Health Care
  • Sex Factors