A patient satisfaction instrument for outpatient physical therapy clinics: reliability and validity

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate validity and reliability of a patient satisfaction instrument, which was developed for use in the outpatient physical therapy clinics. Material and methods: Data were obtained from 375 patients who had been treated in an outpatient physical therapy clinic. Construct validity was assessed by the principal component analysis using varimax rotation. Content validity was assessed by examining the floor and ceiling effects, and skew of the distributions. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. The relationship between the total satisfaction score and demographic characteristics was assessed by examining the Pearson's or Spearman correlation coefficients. Results: The sampling adequacy index was 0.829. Seven factors were found in the factor analysis. These revealed 79.39% of the total variance. Frequency distributions of the total and subscales scores were symmetrical. The floor and ceiling effects were not found. Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient was 0.88. Statistically significant correlation was not found between the total patient satisfaction score and demographic characteristics (p>0.05). Conclusion: The patient satisfaction questionnaire, which was developed for use in the outpatient physical therapy clinics, is valid and reliable instrument.