Development and validation of PSPSQ 2.0 measuring patient satisfaction with pharmacist services

Abstract

Background: The extant literature reveals a lack of psychometrically validated tools measuring patient satisfaction with pharmacist clinical services. The Patient Satisfaction with Pharmacist Services Questionnaire (PSPSQ 2.0) was developed to address this need using a mixed methods approach.

Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the PSPSQ 2.0, an instrument developed to measure patient satisfaction with clinical services provided by pharmacists.

Methods: Validation studies were conducted in two Veterans Affairs (VA)-based and two community-based (diabetes and psychiatric care) disease management/medication therapy management clinics. The PSPSQ 2.0 consisted of 22-items related to three domains identified as quality of care, patient-pharmacist relationship and overall satisfaction using a 4-point, Likert-type scale. It was administered to participants following their session with a pharmacist at the clinics. Collected data were analyzed for descriptive statistics, internal consistency, and validity using exploratory factor analysis.

Results: A total of 149 patients completed the survey. Patients from VA clinics were on average 61 years old, mostly white (63%), and predominantly male (95%). Patients from non-VA clinics were on average 47 years old, mostly White (47%) and male (53%). Non-VA patients mostly had Medicaid (42%) and commercial health insurance (31%), whereas VA patients retained benefits with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Reliability of the scale using internal consistency metrics revealed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.98, 0.98 and 0.95 for VA, diabetes, and psychiatric care clinics, respectively, whereas the Cronbach's alpha for the pooled sample was 0.96. Factor analyses resulted in a three-factor solution accounting for 91% and 69% variance for diabetes and psychiatric care clinics, respectively; however, VA clinics and pooled sample yielded only 2-factor solution with 80% and 66% variance, respectively, with more items loading on patient-pharmacist relationship domain.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the PSPSQ 2.0 can serve as a reliable and valid tool for measuring patient satisfaction with pharmacists providing clinical services in VA- and non-VA settings upon further validation.

Keywords: Disease state management; Patient satisfaction; Pharmacy services; Satisfaction questionnaire; Survey validation.