Article

OBJECTIVE: To describe the quality of patients' continuity experiences in a
population of outpatients receiving postacute rehabilitation care, and to check
which elements and types of continuity most strongly determine their satisfaction
with care and functional changes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional self-report survey.
SETTING: Three postacute ambulatory centers in metropolitan areas. PARTICIPANTS:
Outpatients (N=218; mean age +/- SD, 38.5+/-11.7y). INTERVENTIONS: Not
applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The questionnaire included experiences
regarding aspects of informational (transference of information, accumulated
knowledge), management (consistency and flexibility of care), and relational
(established relation and consistency of provider) continuity, as well as
questions concerning patients' sociodemographic characteristics, satisfaction
with care, and global rating change. RESULTS: Respondents indicated more problems
in terms of management and relational continuity than in informational
continuity. For all patient groups, experiences regarding elements of management
continuity (R(2)=15.3%-22.4%), followed by relational continuity
(R(2)=14.3%-25.2%), explained most of the variance of satisfaction. Consistency
and flexibility of care, together with an established relation, were the most
determining elements of satisfaction. Experiences regarding elements of
management continuity explained most of the variance of change (18.5%), and
flexibility was the most decisive element. CONCLUSIONS: Patient satisfaction and
functional changes are related with experiences in aspects of management
continuity, where there is room for improvement. Measures of management
continuity may be promising as indicators of continuity, and they should be
prioritized.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS