Development and validation of a patient satisfaction scale for musculoskeletal care

Objective. To test the hypothesis that 3 distinct domains of patient satisfaction with musculoskeletal care-satisfaction with the office environment, provider-patient interaction, and treatment outcomes-can be measured reliably and, when considered separately are more valid indicators of satisfaction than global measures. Methods. Three hundred ninety-nine outpatients who presented with knee or shoulder pain rt ere enrolled in a prospective cohort study, We measured patient satisfaction with musculoskeletal care by adapting a widely used generic satisfaction survey. Results, Each domain of the scale was internally consistent, with Cronbach's alphas for satisfaction with the office environment, provider-patient interaction, and treatment outcome subscales of 0.68, 0.95, and 0.93, respectively. Validity correlations demonstrated the greater specificity of the subscales than global measures for particular aspects of musculoskeletal care. Conclusions. The musculoskeletal-specific satisfaction scale has excellent reliability and good discriminant validity. From a policy perspective, the distinct subscale structure is critical because problems within each domain may hare different remedies.