Abstract
Background Patient satisfaction is an important measure for evaluating interventions in health care. No patient satisfaction questionnaire for physical therapy treatment has been validated to date for use in an Italian outpatient population.
Objective The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Italian version of the Physical Therapy Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PTPSQ-I).
Design A measurement study was conducted.
Methods The PTPSQ-I was developed through forward-backward translation, final review, and pre-final version. An acceptability analysis was first conducted. Reliability was measured by internal consistency (Cronbach α), and a factor analysis was applied to investigate the internal structure. Divergent validity was measured by comparing the PTPSQ-I with a visual analog scale (VAS) and with a 5-point Likert-type scale evaluating the global perceived effect (GPE) for the physical therapy treatment.
Results The process for developing the PTPSQ-I required 3 months using data on 315 outpatients. Based on our initial analyses, 5 items were deleted from the PTPSQ-I, which was renamed the PTPSQ-I(15). The PTPSQ-I(15) showed high internal consistency (α=.905). Divergent validity was moderate for the GPE (r=.33) but not significant for the VAS (r=−.07). A factor analysis revealed evidence for a 2-factor structure related to perceived “Overall Experience” and “Professional Impression” that explained 62% of the total variance. A third factor, “Efficiency and Convenience,” brought explained total variance to near 70%.
Limitations It may be necessary to add items to the PTPSQ-I(15) to assess other dimensions not currently represented by these 15 items.
Conclusion The PTPSQ-I(15) showed good psychometric properties, and its use can be recommended with Italian-speaking outpatient populations.
Footnotes
Ms Vanti, Dr Monticone, Ms Ceron, Ms Bonetti, and Professor Pillastrini provided concept/idea/research design. Ms Vanti, Dr Monticone, Ms Ceron, Dr Piccarreta, Dr Guccione, and Professor Pillastrini provided writing. Dr Monticone, Ms Ceron, and Ms Bonetti provided data collection. Ms Vanti, Dr Piccarreta, and Dr Guccione provided data analysis. Ms Vanti provided project management. Ms Vanti and Ms Bonetti provided study participants. Ms Bonetti provided facilities/equipment and institutional liaisons. Ms Vanti, Ms Ceron, Ms Bonetti, Dr Piccarreta, Dr Guccione, and Professor Pillastrini provided consultation (including review of manuscript before submission). The authors thank Maurizio Conti, Jacopo Deserti, Marina D'Onofrio, Sabrina Lambrilli, Elisabetta Pulice, and Barbara Rocca for the assistance provided with this research.
The Ethics Committee of the University Hospital S. Orsola-Malpighi of Bologna (Italy) approved the trial (code 32/2011/U/OssN).
- Received April 13, 2012.
- Accepted April 1, 2013.
- © 2013 American Physical Therapy Association
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