The NORPEQ patient experiences questionnaire: data quality, internal consistency and validity following a Norwegian inpatient survey

Abstract

Aims: This article describes the development of a questionnaire designed for comparisons of patient experiences of hospital care within the Nordic countries. The results of testing for data quality, reliability, and validity are presented following a Norwegian survey.

Methods: Following a literature review and consultation within an expert group six items were developed measuring patient experiences together with two items assessing global satisfaction and perception of incorrect treatment. The questions were included in a questionnaire that was mailed to 500 patients randomly selected from patients receiving inpatient treatment at a large university hospital in Norway. Principal component analysis was used to assess dimensionality. Reliability was assessed by the internal consistency and test-retest methods. Construct validity was assessed by the scale's correlation with variables known to be related to patient experiences.

Results: A total of 244 (48.8%) patients responded. Levels of missing data ranged from 0.4% to 2.5%. The six items in the questionnaire that measured important aspects of patient experiences with the services contributed to a single scale with item-total correlations in the range 0.59-0.71 and a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85. The test-retest intraclass correlation was 0.88.

Conclusions: The NORPEQ is a brief measure of patient experiences that covers important aspects of the healthcare encounter. It shows good evidence of reliability and validity and is relatively easy to apply alongside existing national surveys.