RESUMO
AIMS: The aim of the study is the development of a questionnaire for the assessment of health care from the patients' perspective. METHODS: In the framework of a bottom-up approach, 8 focus groups of patients with diabetes or cardiovascular diseases from two different regions have been conducted. Results of the focus groups have been analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. On the basis of the results of the qualitative content analysis, a pool of 125 questions has been developed which constitute the starting point of a stepwise process for the selection of 44 items for a field test questionnaire. The field test questionnaire has been completed by 195 patients from three regions. The dimensional structure and the psychometric properties of the questionnaire have been analysed by means of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and by means of item-response-theory (IRT) models. RESULTS: The final questionnaire consists of 18 items belonging to the five dimensions "physician treatment", "treatment equity", "consultation by pharmacists", "preventive care" and "waiting times". The results of the confirmatory factor analysis reveal a good fit of the five factor model. Results of IRT analyses confirm that all subscales have at least an ordinal scale level. The reliability of the five subscales ranges between 0.70 and 0.91. CONCLUSIONS: A questionnaire for the assessment of health care from the patients' perspective has been developed. The new instrument can be applied in the evaluation of interventions for the improvement of the organisational aspects of health care for patients with chronic conditions.