Patient complaints evaluation stages-I in emergency setting: development of the evaluation form

Abstract

Objectives: The study was performed to determine the reliability of a form that developed to evaluate the patients’ complaints in emergency setting.
Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in an emergency department (ED) of a private hospital between 04 November 2006 and 12 March 2007. Şfty volunteer patients stayed at least two hours in ED, 16 years and older and at least graduated from primary school composed the study population. The data of the study were collected in two steps by using Patient Complaints Evaluation Form (PCEF) consisted of six subtitles and 41 items. In the şrst step, PCEF was şlled by patients during discharge from ED, and telephone follow-up and electronic-mail were used in the second step. The scores of PCEF were compared between two steps.
Results: Six items were excluded from PCEF and two items were modişed after the evaluation. Totally, it was composed of 35 items and the Cronbach alpha coefşcient value was found 0.884 indicating a high reliability.
Conclusion: Patient complaint is a subjective concept. Standardized forms should be used in order to conşgure these complaints to a more objective status. PCEF should be used for determining the complaints of patients in emergency setting.