Reliability and factor structure of brief emergency department patient satisfaction scale

Patient satisfaction (PS) is an important factor for both patients and healthcare professionals. Psychometrically sound assessment of PS is of absolute importance for quality improvement purposes particularly in private hospitals. One of the PS instruments with high reliability and validity is the Brief Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction Scale (BEPSS). This study aimed to investigate the factor structure of BEPSS in a private hospital. A total of 270 emergency patients from a private hospital filled the questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the factor structure of BEPSS. General-factor and five-factor models of the instrument were compared. Internal consistency of the scale was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. The five-factor solution of the BEPSS had higher indices of fit and was psychometrically more appropriate. The factor structure was consistent with the original solution. All subscales were internally consistent. Cronbach’s alphas ranged between 0.59 and 0.88 for the five subscales. As a result, BEPSS is a valid and reliable instrument in order to be used in private hospitals and clinics. It may serve as a regular PS evaluation tool, which assesses five domains of PS in emergency rooms or for research purposes.