Patient satisfaction surveys in dental school clinics: a review and comparison

Abstract

Health care is becoming more patient-centered and, as a result, patients' experiences of care and assessment of satisfaction are taken more seriously. Patient satisfaction influences treatment cooperation, and better cooperation leads to healthier patients in the long term. This generalization clearly applies in the dental school clinic setting. Furthermore, dental school clinics' administrators and clinicians should know about the dimensions of their patient satisfaction in order to provide the highest quality of care. The aim of this study was to review studies published between 1980 and March 2014 to identify the dimensions used to measure patients' satisfaction when they receive services in dental school clinics. The PubMed database was used to access published studies using patient satisfaction surveys in dental school clinics, and the dimensions used in these surveys were then categorized. Through several stages of searching in PubMed, the authors selected 41 articles from a total of 730; after further critical appraisal, nine articles were retained. Five dimensions included in patient surveys were identified: quality, interaction, access, environment, and cost. Determining the dimensions used in patient satisfaction surveys in dental school clinics can assist academic dental institutions in providing the highest quality of care.

Keywords: dental education; dental school; dental school clinics; patient satisfaction.