OBJECTIVE: To analyze patient satisfaction in inpatient depression treatment depending on German language proficiency. METHODS: Documentation of patients in 24 psychiatric hospitals in Baden-Württemberg (South Germany). The following three groups were matched according to age, gender, and education: native German speakers, non-native speakers with good German proficiency, and non-native speakers with limited German proficiency (67 in each group). RESULTS: The number of unsatisfied patients was four times higher in the group of non-native speakers with limited German proficiency (24 %) than in the native German speakers group (6,5 %) and more then twice as high as in the group of non-native speakers with good German proficiency (10.2 %). Patient satisfaction was lower in the group of non-native speakers with limited German proficiency independent of treatment outcome than in both other groups, whereas in both groups with good German proficiency, satisfaction was associated with treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Good linguistic understanding is more important for patient satisfaction in inpatient depression treatment than treatment outcome.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze patient satisfaction in inpatient depression treatment depending on German language proficiency. METHODS: Documentation of patients in 24 psychiatric hospitals in Baden-Württemberg (South Germany). The following three groups were matched according to age, gender, and education: native German speakers, non-native speakers with good German proficiency, and non-native speakers with limited German proficiency (67 in each group). RESULTS: The number of unsatisfied patients was four times higher in the group of non-native speakers with limited German proficiency (24 %) than in the native German speakers group (6,5 %) and more then twice as high as in the group of non-native speakers with good German proficiency (10.2 %). Patient satisfaction was lower in the group of non-native speakers with limited German proficiency independent of treatment outcome than in both other groups, whereas in both groups with good German proficiency, satisfaction was associated with treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Good linguistic understanding is more important for patient satisfaction in inpatient depression treatment than treatment outcome.