Objective: To develop the Rehabilitation Patient Experiences Questionnaire for patients undergoing rehabilitation for rheumatological disorders.
Methods: Development of the instrument was based on literature review and adaptation of the Patient Experiences Questionnaire. The instrument was piloted and then administered in a multicentre cohort study of 12 rehabilitation units.
Results: The survey included 435 patients, of which 412 (94.7%) responded to the Rehabilitation Patient Experiences Questionnaire. Following principal component analysis, the initial 27 items were reduced to 18 items and 4 scales: rehabilitation care and organization, information and communication, availability of staff, and social environment. Item--total correlations ranged from 0.77 to 0.87. Cronbach's alpha exceeded the criterion of 0.7, and was 0.87, 0.86, 0.78, and 0.77 for the 4 scales, respectively. Construct validity was supported by correlations between the 4 scales and responses to individual questions, which were largely in the direction as hypothesized. Overall, patients reported good experiences. There were statistical differences across the rehabilitation settings in staff availability (p = 0.001) and social environment (p = 0.002), but no difference in care and organization and information/communication (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: The 18-item Rehabilitation Patient Experiences Questionnaire is a promising outcome measure of experiences related to rehabilitation in patients with rheumatic diseases across different clinical settings. :