Development and Testing of an Instrument to Assess Patient Satisfaction withDental Implants. Abstract, Executive Summary and Final Report

摘要

The central purpose of this effort was to develop a methodologically sound andpractical self-reporting instrument to assess patient satisfaction with dental implant procedures and outcomes. Until now, no tested and standardized instrument has existed for this prupose, despite the rapid growth in the number of implant procedures and the number of implant clinical trials. One version of the Dental Implant Survey is Intended for patients receiving their implants from a single provider, while the second version is intended for patients in the two-provider model. The core of the questionnaire consists of 27 evaluation items arranged in 6 groups that represent key dimensions of dental implant care and service: access, technical quality, communication, continuity of care, interpersonal manner, and cost/value. An additional 31 items address satisfaction with treatment outcomes and expectations. The study provides the largest database for a nationwide profile of dental implant patients. The pattern of covergent and discriminant validity coefficients observed in this study strongly suggests that implant recipients distinguish among different aspects of the care and service that they receive. This supports the scoring and intepretation of separate multi-item scales for use in further research and a guide to identification of areas of excellence as well as opportunities for improvement in implant practice.