Sammanfattning
Introduction: The increased focus on patients' perception of quality and their satisfaction with the care received reflects the concepts of standard of service as well as consumerism in modern health care systems. This paper reports on an analysis of various items central to patients' perception of the quality of information provided to them during hospitalisation together with possible demographic associations. Materials and methods: A survey concerning the quality of information provided to patients was carried out in medical wards over a six-week period. It was based on a questionnaire completed on the day of discharge. Participation was voluntary and anonymous and included only adult patients (> 15 years). Results: A total of 4,287 discharged patients from 60 wards were registered; of these, 3,027 (70.6%) completed the questionnaire. More than 80% had been acute admissions. Nearly 20% of the patients stated that it had been necessary to ask the health care personnel for information, and 5% felt that information had been provided either at an inappropriate time or under inappropriate physical conditions or in a disrespectful manner; 12.3% and 5.9%, respectively, felt that doctors and nurses had given different or conflicting information. Statistically, the strongest association between the perception of the quality of information provided and demographic factors was with the patient's age, and the group of patients under 40 years of age was found to be the most critical. Single people evaluated the quality of information less positively than did cohabitants. No strong associations were found with respect to gender, education or occupational status. Discussion: The results indicate that in the future, well-informed, well-educated patients will approach the quality of communication in the health care system in a more critical way.