Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106644

Hediye Seval Akgün, MD, PhD, Public Health Department, Baskent University, School of Medicine, 12.street.7/9, Bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, 00-90-312-2120434, sevala@baskent-ank.edu.tr, Gamze Günes, Quality speciali, Quality Department, Baskent University Hospitals Network, 12. street. 7/9 bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, Coskun Bakar, MD, Public Health, Baskent University Medical School, 12.street. 7/9 Bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, and IsıL. Irem Budakoglu, Specialist, Department of Public Health, Baskent University, School of Medicine, 12. street. 7/8, 06490, Bahcelievler, Ankara, Turkey.

Patient expectations and satisfaction are crucial, since these factors can potentially influence both health status and medical outcome. This study examined hospital-level correlation between patient satisfaction and hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infection and mortality rates of Baskent University Ankara Hospital (BUAH) inpatient clinics in Turkey between the years 1999-2004. 2029 eligible patients' expectations and experiences that discharged from our hospitals were measured in a number of clinical and non-clinical areas; however we chose to focus on overall satisfaction scores of physician and nursing cares in this study. Hospital (nosocomial) infection rates and overall mortality rates were determined for 75,819 consecutive patients discharged from BUAH during January 2000 through December 2004. For hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infection rates, we found the overall nosocomial infection rates for the cumulative 5-year period 3.31 % ranged from 2.86 % to 3.68. The overall mortality rate was 2.42 % (ranged from 2.18 % to 2.73 %) over the cumulative 5-year period. Analysis found that satisfaction scores were inversely correlated with nosocomial infection and mortality rates. For the cumulative five-year period, correlations were significant or of borderline significance for physician care(R=-0.500 for overall mortality R= 0.800 for overall nosocomial infection rates) and for the nursing care (R=1.00 for overall nosocomial infection rates and R=-0.500 for overall mortality). These findings indicate that higher patient satisfaction also tended to have lower mortality and infection rates. Although there are some limitations to be considered in this study, it provides important new data regarding the validity and usefulness of patient satisfaction surveys as a tool for measuring hospital quality.

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