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Predictors of Client Satisfaction with Outpatient Mental Health Clinic Services in Italy and New York

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Abstract

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess factors associated with client satisfaction in two mental health outpatient settings in Italy and the US. Sociodemographic and clinical variables, hope, and personality characteristics were evaluated in 18–65-year-old patients who had been receiving services for at least 2 months in one of two outpatient clinics, in Italy and the US. Patients were administered: the Healthy Days Core Module, the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress, the Verona Service Satisfaction Survey, the Client Satisfaction Inventory, the Health Service OutPatient Experience questionnaire, the Herth Hope Index, and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3. Bivariate tests for differences between the two samples were conducted, a Satisfaction Composite z-score was computed, and a stepwise, backward elimination, multiple linear regression model—including the variables that were significantly associated with Satisfaction Composite Score in bivariate tests—was built. From July 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016, 184 patients (121 in Foligno, 63 in New York City) were enrolled in the study. Predictors of client satisfaction included: receiving services in New York City, being older, having lower educational attainment, having inner positive readiness and expectancy as well as interconnectedness with self and others, and high scores on the agreeableness personality domain. Interestingly, diagnosis and treatment characteristics did not influence satisfaction. Client satisfaction with outpatient mental health services is mainly influenced by sociodemographic characteristics and personality factors more than clinical variables or patterns of care. These findings could have implications regarding trends toward value-based payment models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Luca Pauselli, Chiara Galletti, Norma Verdolini, Enrico Paolini, Daniela Gallucci, Pierfrancesco Maria Balducci & Patrizia Moretti

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA

    Luca Pauselli & Michael T. Compton

  3. Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    Norma Verdolini

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Anderlecht, Belgium

    Francesco Bernardini

  5. Department of Psychiatry, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY, USA

    Jerome H. Kogan

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Ruth Shim

  7. New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), 1051 Riverside Drive, Box 100, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Luca Pauselli

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  1. Luca Pauselli
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  2. Chiara Galletti
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  3. Norma Verdolini
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  4. Enrico Paolini
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Correspondence to Luca Pauselli.

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Pauselli, L., Galletti, C., Verdolini, N. et al. Predictors of Client Satisfaction with Outpatient Mental Health Clinic Services in Italy and New York. Community Ment Health J 54, 562–570 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0196-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0196-6

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