American Journal of Medical Quality

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ajmq

Click here to browse AJSM online!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vonberg, R.-P.
Right arrow Articles by Gastmeier, P.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vonberg, R.-P.
Right arrow Articles by Gastmeier, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
American Journal of Medical Quality, Vol. 23, No. 1, 56-59 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1062860607310915
© 2008 American College of Medical Quality

Consumer Attitudes About Health Care—Acquired Infections: A German Survey on Factors Considered Important in the Choice of a Hospital

Ralf-Peter Vonberg, MD

Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Germany, vonberg.ralf{at}mh-hannover.de

Carsten Sander, MS

Independent Research and Analysis, Kassel, Germany

Petra Gastmeier, MD

Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology, Medical School Hannover, Germany

Most patients are free in their choice of hospital for nonemergency admissions. In a nationwide survey in 1000 German households, we interviewed randomly chosen persons (age 14 and older) by phone about what they consider important when choosing a hospital. A standardized questionnaire was used. Additionally, question order was randomized prior to each interview. Demographic data included age, gender, education, and previous admissions to hospitals. Categories that might influence the choice of hospital included "distance to hospital," "friendly staff," "staff-to-patient ratio," "cleanliness," "nosocomial infection rate," "own experiences," "friend's opinion," and "facility's reputation in public media." General cleanliness, low nosocomial infection rates, and friendly staff proved to be the most important issues in our study. In contrast, the reputation of the health care facility in the public media was much less important. It seems that kindness and basic hygiene measures, both quite inexpensive factors, are key issues for patients. (Am J Med Qual 2008;23:56-59)

Key Words: public opinion polls • hygiene • nosocomial infection


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?