Patients' experiences with GP - a review of relevant measurement instruments
Report
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The purpose of this literature review has been to find relevant and validated instruments to measure the patients’ and / or guardians’ experiences with general practitioners.
Key message
Patients' experiences and satisfaction is an important part of the quality of health services. The purpose of this literature review has been to find relevant and validated instruments to measure the patients’ and / or guardians’ experiences with general practitioners. The search strategy was composed of keywords related to patient experiences, general practitioner services, questionnaire, instrument (and similar), and validity and reliability. We searched in the databases CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE (R) and PsycINFO.
We identified 15 validated instruments, but six of these were excluded because they were not relevant for our purposes. Two of the nine remaining instruments, The patient experience questionnaire (PEQ) and EUROPEP, were validated and used in Norway, and were therefore of particular interest. We also identified a systematic literature review of relevant instruments. The literature review showed that most instruments have a potential for improvement, and that there is a need for clearer emphasis on the purpose of the measurement and communication of patients' assessments of general practitioners.
Our review shows that there is a good basis to develop or further develop a method for measuring patients' experiences of general practitioners in Norway. One of the instruments that are validated in Norway, EUROPEP, is a natural starting point because it has been translated and validated in a number of countries.