Development and psychometric validation of the hospitalized patients' expectations for treatment scale - patient version

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry Vol. 14; p. 1201707
• Main Authors: Xiao, Chunfeng, Wu, Aoxue, Wang, Yufei, Li, Tao, Duan, Yanping, Jiang, Yinan, Shi, Lili, Hong, Xia, Geng, Wenqi, Li, Jiarui, Du, Jianhua, Hu, Jiaojiao, Cao, Jinya, Wei, Jing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 12-06-2023
• Subjects: disease management expectancy; doctor–patient relationship; general hospital; outcome expectation; patient expectation; patient safety; Psychiatry; general hospital; disease management expectancy; patient safety; doctor–patient relationship; outcome expectation; patient expectation
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1201707

A general expectation measurement of inpatients across wards is needed in the patient safety management systems of general hospitals. This study developed and psychometrically validated a new scale fulfilling the requirements above: the Hospitalized Patients' Expectations for Treatment Scale-Patient version (HOPE-P).
A total of 35 experts and ten inpatients were interviewed during the formulation of the HOPE-P scale, which was initially designed with three dimensions: doctor-patient communication expectations, treatment outcome expectations, and disease management expectancy. We recruited 210 inpatients from a general hospital in China and explored the reliability, validity, and psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire. Item analysis, construct validity, internal consistency and 7-day test-retest reliability analysis were applied.
Exploratory and confirmatory analyses supported a 2-dimension (doctor-patient communication expectation and treatment outcome expectation) structure with satisfactory model fit parameters (root mean square residual (RMR) = 0.035, a root-mean-square-error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.072, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.984, Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.970). Item analysis revealed an appropriate item design (r = 0.573-0.820). The scale exhibited good internal consistency, with Cronbach's α of 0.893, 0.761, and 0.919 for the overall scale, the doctor-patient communication expectation subscale, and the treatment outcome expectation subscale, respectively. The 7-day test-retest reliability was 0.782 (
< .001).
Our results indicated that the HOPE-P is a reliable and valid assessment tool to measure the expectations of general hospital inpatients, with a strong capacity to recognize patients' expectations regarding doctor-patient communication and treatment outcomes.