Patient satisfaction with medical care for low-back pain

Richard A. Deyo, Andrew K. Diehl

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

182 Scopus citations

Abstract

Because patient satisfaction with medical care for back pain is an important outcome and may correlate with compliance or other outcomes, the authors devised a brief (9-item) satisfaction scale and demonstrated its reliability and validity. The most frequently cited source of dissatisfaction among 140 patients with mechanical low-back pain (LBP) was failure to receive an adequate explanation of the problem. Compared with patients who reported an adequate explanation, those who did not wanted more diagnostic tests, were less satisfied with their visit, and were less likely to want the same doctor again. Receiving an adequate explanation was not associated with more tests or physician time. Thus, explanation of symptoms has a high priority among patients with LBP, and this need should be explicitly acknowledged and addressed by their physicians.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)28-30
Number of pages3
JournalSpine
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1986
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Diagnostic tests
  • Low-back pain
  • Problem explanation
  • Satisfaction with medical care

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Patient satisfaction with medical care for low-back pain'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this