MEASURING ONCOLOGY PATIENT EXPERIENCE: QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22551/9fntxk74Abstract
The experience of oncology patients has emerged as a critical measure of care quality within the framework of a patient-centered approach to assessing health system performance. The absence of a validated instrument specific to the Romanian context restricts healthcare centers’ capacity to effectuate significant enhancements. This research focused on the development and validation of a standardized instrument, the Oncology Patient’s Healthcare Experience Questionnaire (OPEX), designed to evaluate the experiences of cancer patients. Materials and methods: This questionnaire was developed using a conceptual framework, which provided the foundation for creating the questionnaire items. The instrument’s initial version underwent content validation with a sample of 50 patients, subsequently being administered to a larger cohort of 200 patients for psychometric analysis. The initial analysis of internal consistency yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.604. Following item revision, this value improved to 0.867, demonstrating enhanced reliability and validity. Results: The OPEX questionnaire includes 52 items grouped into seven essential dimensions of oncology care: interactions with physicians and nurses, patient information and education, hospital environment and organization, patient safety, relationships with carers, interactions with auxiliary staff, and facility infrastructure. This robust instrument, tailored to Romanian healthcare, captures oncology patients’ unique experiences and improves the quality of patient-centered care. Conclusions: The OPEX questionnaire may serve as a reference tool for assessing patient satisfaction, providing insights into perceived care quality, identifying systemic gaps, enhancing clinical communication, personalizing interventions, and improving treatment adherence and therapeutic outcomes.
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