Experiences of burn care postal survey versus interview data

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Experiences of burn care postal survey versus
interview data

• Björn Wikehult, Mathilde Hedlund, Milica
  Marsenic,
• Sofi Nyman and Mimmie Willebrand
• Departments of Surgical Sciences and
  Neuroscience,
• Uppsala University, and the Burn unit,
• Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden

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Background Patient satisfaction with care has
become more important in the development of care
procedures Patient satisfaction with burn care
is not well explored Previous investigations of
satisfaction indicate that mode of data
collection, i.e. by questionnaire or by
interview, may affect the results The patient
may feel dependent upon the researcher, often a
physician or nurse, and report less negative
experiences in an interview
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Aims To explore the presence of negative care
experiences To investigate the impact of data
collection on reported negative care experiences
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• Participants
• Inclusion criteria
• Consecutive burn patients who had participated
  in a prospective study
• 18 years or older at the time of injury
• Swedish speaking
• No cognitive dysfunction or ongoing psychotic
  disorder
• Forty-five gave their consent and were randomized
  into three groups
• Three dropped out of the study
• Participation rate 81

Group 1 Postal survey n 13
Group 2 Telephone interview n 15
Group 3 Face-to-face interview n 14
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Material Negative care experiences (six
items) Uncertainty Did you feel certain that you
would get well again? (reversed) Powerlessness
Did you feel powerless and dejected? Unsafe Did
you feel safe in the ward? (reversed) Fear Were
you afraid that you would not make it? Nuisance
Did you feel that you were a nuisance in the
ward? Wait When you needed assistance in the
ward, did you have to wait a long time before
anyone came?
Response format 0 Not at all 1
Sometimes 2 Several times 3 Often
4 All the time
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Background variables The three randomized groups
were equal with respect to all background
variables except anxiety/depression The postal
questionnaire group reported more symptoms of
anxiety and depression than the two interview
groups Age ns Gender ns Total
Body Surface Area burned ns Length of stay in
hospital ns Days in ventilator ns Sincerity
(one item) ns Symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder ns Symptoms of anxiety and
depression p lt 0.01 Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HADS)
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Results I Did the patients report negative care
experiences? Overall means (n
42) Range of means 0.2-1.3 Range of
individual responses 0-4
Not at all
All the time
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Result II Does negative care experiences differ
due to data collection method? After controlling
for symptoms of anxiety/depression The postal
questionnaire group had more experiences of
Having to wait for assistance than those
interviewed by telephone (F 4.1, p lt
0.05) There was a significant interaction
between data collection method and
anxiety/depression (HADS) for Uncertainty (F
3.9, p lt 0.05) Uncertainty and
anxiety/depression is differently associated in
different data collection groups
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Discussion and conclusions Negative care
experiences were reported, but were not
frequent Assessment by postal questionnaire may
promote higher reporting of negative care
experiences Symptoms of anxiety and depression
may interact with data collection method in
promoting a higher/lower reporting of negative
care experiences Preliminary conclusions Efforts
must be made to minimize the occurrence of
negative care experiences Data that have been
collected by different means may not be
equivalent and should not be pooled
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Thank you!