Life satisfaction in patients with chest pain subsequently diagnosed as coronary heart disease – connection through depressive symptoms?

The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with life dissatisfaction in symptomatic patients (n = 144) with chest pain subsequently diagnosed as coronary heart disease (CHD) by coronary angiography. Life dissatisfaction was assessed with a four-item life satisfaction scale (LS), depression with the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and other psychiatric symptoms with the symptom check list (SCL). DSM-III-R Axis I and Axis II psychiatric diagnoses were performed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview. All assessments took place one day before angiography. Twenty-four per cent of CHD patients were dissatisfied with their lives. Life dissatisfaction was associated with being unmarried. Dissatisfied patients had Axis I mental disorders and Axis II personality disorders more frequently than others. Psychiatric and depressive symptoms according to the SCL and BDI, respectively, were also higher among dissatisfied patients. In multiple logistic regression analyses, mental disorders were related to life dissatisfaction when age, sex, employment status, New York Heart Association class, duration of chest pain symptoms and work load were controlled in the model. Married subjects had a lower probability of being dissatisfied with their lives than other subjects (Odds Ratio, OR: 0.23). When BDI scores were included in the model, the only factor independently associated with life dissatisfaction was the severity of depressive symptoms (OR: 1.81). To conclude, life dissatisfaction is not primarily determined by the severity of CHD but by the existence of depressive symptoms.     

Psychiatric nurses' satisfaction: the effects of closure of a hospital

A survey by questionnaire was carried out to examine the level of nursing staff satisfaction with the acute psychiatric services. Comparisons were made between views of older psychiatric hospitals and newer district general hospital units, and before and after the closure of Friern Barnet Hospital, London, England when the service was reorganized to include fewer beds. The importance of nurses having their say is emphasized, and areas in which improvements can be made are suggested.     

'Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted'– towards a critical exploration of modes of satisfaction measurement in sheltered housing

This paper reflects on a research project funded by a consortium of leading sheltered housing (SH) providers and their regulatory body, the Housing Corporation. The project aimed to ascertain which aspects of SH older people perceived to be central to their satisfaction and the methods they judged most appropriate to measuring this. We outline key policy developments of importance to SH (specifically the development of performance measurement regimes), and changes in the nature of SH, which are driving providers to re‐evaluate how they measure user satisfaction. We discuss the aims of the project, our methodology and findings, and conclude by raising critical questions about the process of measuring satisfaction within an increasingly managerialised housing system. We argue that this favours standardised methods of information gathering (such as questionnaires) rather than engage with clients in order to develop methods and systems capable of eliciting qualitative issues of concern to them. Our conclusions are, we believe, applicable to health and social care provision, where similar tensions exist around performance measurement and user satisfaction.     

Patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital: effects of interpersonal and technical aspects of hospital care.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patient satisfaction with and recommendation of a hospital, with a special focus on the correlation of these measures to patient ratings of interpersonal and technical performance of the hospital. DESIGN: Telephone survey of patients with four specific conditions after their discharge from hospitals. SETTING: Accredited district teaching hospitals and above, nationwide in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4945 patients from 126 hospitals diagnosed with or undergoing procedures related to stroke, diabetes mellitus, Caesarean section, or appendectomy were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overall patient satisfaction and recommendation were measured by single-item questions. Interpersonal skills were measured by three items: doctors' explanation, attitude, and caring. Technical skills were measured by another three items: hospital equipment, clinical competence, and outcome of treatment. RESULTS: Interpersonal skills were as influential or more influential than clinical competence on patient satisfaction for three of the four disease categories. In contrast, technical competence was a more influential predictor for recommendation for patients in all four disease categories. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results imply that a hospital with high percentage of patient satisfaction does not necessarily receive a high level of recommendation. This finding provides new insights for researchers and for hospital managers who devote resources exclusively for achieving the highest possible levels of patient satisfaction.     

基于工作一个人匹配理论的临床医生职业耗竭风险因素分析

基于Maslach引入组织行为学中工作～个人匹配（job～person fit）理论范式来解释职业耗竭，并发展其原有的三维度理论。以临床医生为对象，从工作负荷、控制感、报酬、团队、公平、价值趋向6个方面来根据个人与工作的匹配程度，对其所发生职业耗竭现象的风险因素进行分析，并探讨现实中可行的控制策略来促进临床医生的职业投入感，减少职业耗竭感，从而提高医疗服务的效率和质量。     

MMPI‐2 assessed post‐traumatic stress disorder related to job stress,coping, and personality in police agencies

The PK and PS scales of the MMPI‐2 were developed to index the degree of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These scales were applied to a sample of 254 mostly male sworn and civilian law enforcement employees from four police agencies. Participants also completed surveys measuring their perceived levels of job stress, their use of a set of coping strategies, and their performance on measures of five global personality domains. The two PTSD scales appeared to have good internal structures and relatively high reliabilities. Employees at greater risk for PTSD reported higher levels of work‐related stress, seemed to use more maladaptive coping strategies, were more neurotic, and tended to be less extraverted, agreeable, and conscientious. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unemployment and health impairments: Longitudinal analyses for the Federal Republic of Germany

In recent years many studies of unemployment and health haveshown that unemployed persons are in poorer health. However,one question remained unanswered: is the poorer health of theunemployed caused by unemployment Itself (causation hypotheses)or is it a result of selection processes, whereby people inpoor health are more likely to lose their job and less likelyto be re-employed (selection hypothesis)? Findings from a studybased on the longitudinal data of the German Socio-economicPanel (1984–1988, N=5, 516 persons, 18–64 years)are presented. All health indicators (health satisfaction, chronicillness, handicaps in fulfilling daily life tasks, disability)showed poorer outcomes for the unemployed persons, even aftercontrolling for the possible confounding effects of sodo-demographicvariables. Unemployed persons also consulted a physician morefrequently and were hospitalized more often. But longitudinalanalyses (of becoming unemployed and of re-employment) did notlend much support to the causation hypothesis. Instead, a constantlevel of health satisfaction for persons losing their job andfor the re-employed compared to their initial ratings supportedthe selection hypotheses. This means that in the Federal Republicof Germany persons in poorer health are more likely to losetheir jobs and persons in better health are more likely to bere-employed.     

Equity/inequity,stress and employee commitment in a health care setting

This article investigates the relationship between perceptions of equity, occupational stress and employee commitment in a health care setting. Significant relationships were found among these variables and implications for the health care field are discussed.