Importance and Anticipation as Expectation and Their Relationship to Patient Satisfaction With Health Care

181 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988.This dissertation explores the phenomena and theoretical formulations that underlie patient satisfaction. Specifically, it explores the relationship between patient expectations (importance ratings and anticipation) and patient satisfaction to see whether and to what extent these two constructs are related.The sample for the study was randomly selected from the faculty and staff at the University of Illinois. A cross-sectional research design was employed. The primary instrument was a questionnaire, which included five sections: health care related information, the Anticipation Scale, the Satisfaction Scale, and the Importance Scale, and sociodemographic information. Data were collected by mailed questionnaires. Factor analyses were employed to derive factors from the Anticipation Scale and the Satisfaction Scale. Pearson's correlations were used to determine the strength of the relationships between patient expectations and patient satisfaction. Finally, multiple regression analyses were used to compare and contrast the importance of predictors.The findings demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between a patient's anticipation of and satisfaction with his or her health care. A respondent's level of anticipation of a physician's conduct and convenience of services was associated most highly and positively with higher levels of overall satisfaction. In addition, a respondent's anticipation of a specific dimension of anticipation was most highly associated with the parallel dimension of satisfaction.The relationship between the importance ratings and anticipation was much stronger than that of the importance ratings and satisfaction. There was no statistically significant relationship between the most valued aspect of care and anticipation nor between the most valued aspect of care and satisfaction.Discrepancy theory is one theoretical model that explains patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction was found to be consistently and significantly related to the discrepancy between the anticipated and experienced level of care.The roles of sociodemographic characteristics, health insurance type, self-reported health status, and health experiences are also presented. These control variables played a less important role in predicting patient satisfaction than measures of anticipation.Findings are placed in the context of theory and previous research. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research, health practice, and health policy.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD