Factors that impact patient satisfaction in physical therapy

Over the past decade health care has changed drastically in the United States. Physical therapists are required to treat more patients a day and patients are seen over a shorter period of time. To ensure that physical therapy clinics can stay competitive patient satisfaction must be addressed. This research study is a quantitative correlational survey study, analyzing the relationship between patients psychological variables of perceived stress, pain, and emotion with their satisfaction with care. The study used a sample of convenience, from one outpatient orthopedic clinic in northern California, with a sample size of 84. Data was analyzed with SPSS, version 12.0 for Windows XP, calculating Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple regression coefficients, square of the multiple regression correlation, adjusted square of multiple regression, and descriptive statistics. The study concluded that there was an 8.4% relationship between all emotions and patient satisfaction and a 12.7% relationship between positive emotions and patient satisfaction.