Chandrasekar T et al, 2015: Internet-Based Patient Survey on Urolithiasis Treatment and Patient Satisfaction.
Chandrasekar T, Monga M, Nguyen M, Low RK
Department of Urology, University of California at Davis , Sacramento, California
Abstract
PURPOSE: We created an Internet-based survey of patients treated for urolithiasis to evaluate for trends in treatment, outcome, and patient satisfaction and to establish internet surveys as a feasible medium for future research of patient urolithiasis treatment experiences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used the website "kidneystoners.org" to disseminate the online survey, which queried respondents on treatment type, outcome, and satisfaction. Patient satisfaction was correlated with treatment type and outcome. Chi-square and analysis of variance tests were used to compare responses between treatment types.
RESULTS: Four hundred forty-three respondents completed the survey. The majority (46%) were treated ureteroscopically, followed by extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL, 25%)
and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (7%). Other treatments included spontaneous passage (13%), medical expulsive therapy (7%), and home remedies (2%). Sixty-four percent of respondents deemed their treatment "successful," while 36% reported their treatment as either
"partially successful" or "unsuccessful." Unsuccessful treatment was more likely for SWL (17%) and home remedies (14%) (p=0.002). Most respondents (52%) reported being either satisfied or very satisfied with their treatment choice. Satisfaction did not vary significantly by treatment type, but was significantly associated with treatment success (mean satisfaction 3.8/5 for "successful" vs 1.9/5 for "unsuccessful" treatment; p<0.0001).
CONCLUSION: Use of the Internet allows rapid gathering of patient information from a large geographic distribution. Our survey is consistent with previous studies in demonstrating an increased use of ureteroscopy to treat both renal and ureteral calculi. In
general, patients are satisfied with treatment outcomes despite a large percentage of people reporting needing to have secondary procedures.
J Endourol. 2014 Nov 3. [Epub ahead of print]
Comments 2
An interesting publication: within only 4.5-months 443 unsolicited responses could be gathered by offering a 9 items questionnaire on the non-commercial website http://kidneystoners.org,
“While there were no significant unexpected findings from the survey results, we did note that the absolute rates of patient satisfaction and success were lower than we expected.” It is typical for patient driven surveys to show lower satisfaction rates than those which are doctor driven regardless of the subject being evaluated.
Hi, I am working in survey sites for last three months. I am looking for the correct way of doing survey task successfully. I am pleased to read your articles. I have lot of gaps that i can overcome by following your guidences. I am working in dailyonlinesurvey too.