Patient Satisfaction in a Dental Faculty

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess satisfaction of dental patients by a 24 item satisfaction questionnaire with a 5 point rating scale. Methods: Eight hundred thirty five subjects (504 females and 331 males, mean age 38,62 years, standard deviation of 13,98) were randomly selected from the dental patients who were referred to the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology. The patients who surveyed in the study received the questionnaires at their first visit. For the statistical analysis, 4 of 24 items were scored in the opposite direction because of their negative contents. A total score was calculated by summing the scores of 24 items. All scores were evaluated in the range of 0: dissatisfaction-100: satisfaction. Patients who have scores above 60, were accepted as satisfied. Factor analysis was carried out, and items belonging to each factor and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated. One –way ANOVA and unpaired-t test were used. Results: The internal consistency of questionnaire was determined as 0.87 by using Cronbach's alpha. No statistically significant differences were found between satisfaction and gender, levels of education, status of employment (p>0.05). Dental satisfaction was higher among older patients and widows (p<0.05). Overall satisfaction was found 86.7%. Conclusion: Findings indicate a high level of patient satisfaction during their first visit.