Satisfaction with the healthcare provided of women who had undergone a mastectomy

Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women worldwide and, therefore, deserves the highest attention and assistance from medical services. Considering patients’ satisfaction as an indication of healthcare quality, women who have undergone a mastectomy will assess the medical care received. This assessment will be based on what is expected from that medical care and on the expected improvement of her health condition. . Objective: To determine the level of satisfaction of women who have undergone a mastectomy with the medical care provided by nurses, doctors and by the way hospital services are organized. Design: A descriptive and cross-sectional study, developed in Portugal. Participants: A non-probabilistic sample formed by 153 women who underwent a mastectomy with an average age of 55, married (67.3%), unemployed (56.2%), living in a rural area (71.2%) and living on minimum wage (54.9%). Measurement instrument: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire. Results: 113 (73.85%) of the 153 women are satisied with the medical care provided and 40 (26.14%) of them show their lack of satisfaction. A highly signiicant percentage of women (49.01%) feel fairly satisied with the medical care provided by nurses and with the way services are organized (37.9). On the other hand (37.9%) show their dissatisfaction towards doctors. The family network proved to be a predictor of the satisfaction with doctors (β = 0.163; P = .044) and the period of hospitalization predicts the satisfaction with the organization (β = 0.171; P = .011). Both predictors will be useful to explain the 3% variability in patients’ satisfaction. Conclusions: Monitoring the satisfaction with the medical care received is a fundamental strategy to promote the well-being of women who underwent a mastectomy.