How evaluate Patient Satisfaction with dental health services

Introduction: Effective management of patient perceptions/satisfaction regarding dental health/care and services is paramount to obtain. Objectives: To measure outpatients' satisfaction with oral health/care delivery, in a University dental school clinic, by means of developing an inquiry. Material and methods: 268 outpatients, both genders, 46.1(±16.3) years, voluntarily attended in FHS-UFP dental school clinic (April-July/2012), answered an inquiry (31 questions), evaluating patient satisfaction level (five-point Likert scale); The inquiry was further reduced to 26 question, and arranged into components by means of Factorial Analysis/PCA. Psychometric analysis (inquiry developed evaluation) was performed by means of studying its reliability and validity. Descriptive/inferential analysis was performed with SPSS© vs.21 (=0.05). Results: Results regarding reliability coefficient (Cronbach's α=0.616), content, and construct validities showed intermediate internal consistency and satisfactory validity. Factorial analysis showed the pertinence of this model (KMO=0.655; Bartlett sphericity test, p0.001), by means of PCA, indicating the existence of five components. The scores obtained for overall satisfaction with dental services ranged from 84 to 130 point (mean values=109.5±8.2). Although a significant positive association was obtained for "patient assistance access and receptionist help", by female outpatients and their age (rs=0.306, p0.001), the highest mean satisfaction score were obtained for the components: "perception of solved (dental) problem", followed by "professional's quality and dental treatment" and "patient assistance assess and receptionist help". Conclusions: This study makes available a tool to contribute to management and measuring dental healthcare deliveries. Clinical Implications: Overall high level of patient satisfaction reflects the responsibility/accountability of dental team's approach towards the target population. Keywords: Patient Satisfaction, Dental Care, Dental School Clinic, Scale development, Dental services, Validity, Inquiry