The relationship between health status, social support and satisfaction with medical care among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Objective. To examine the effect of physical and mental health status and social support on patient satisfaction with health care in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Study design. Using a cross-sectional design, 220 SLE patients were recruited from rheumatology departments in two hospitals in the Montreal (Canada) area. Data comprised physician-rated indices of health status and patient-completed questionnaires. Measures. Independent variables included demographics, disease duration, physician-rated indices of disease activity (SLAM R) and disease damage (SLICC/ACR), patient self-reported health status (SF-36), and perceived social support (ISEL). Patient satisfaction with medical care (PSQ-IV) was the dependent variable. Analyses. Univariate analyses were performed to describe the sample and examine univariate associations between the independent variables and patient satisfaction with medical cave. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was computed to determine the relative importance of physician-rated indices of health status, self-reported physical and mental health status and social support on patient satisfaction after controlling for demographic variables. Results. A multivariate hierarchical regression computed to predict patient satisfaction included the following variables in the equation: age, education, income (step 1), disease duration, SLAM-R, SLICC/ACR (step 2), mental and physical health status (step 3), and perceived social support (step 4). Less education (P < 0.01), better self-reported mental (P < 0.05) and physical health status (P < 0.005) and higher perceived social support (P < 0.005) were significant predictors of patient satisfaction (R-2 = 0.15, P < 0.0001). Conclusion. The findings suggest that self-reported physical and mental health status and social support are more important than clinical status variables in understanding patient satisfaction with medical care.