Development of a questionnaire to assess the quality of care in Dutch dialysis centers from the patient's perspective.

This study aimed to develop and test a questionnaire in order to assess the quality of care in Dutch dialysis centers from the patient's perspective. The questionnaire is referred to as the Quality of Care in Dialysis centers Questionnaire. Focus group sessions were organized and the results were transformed into a 68-item test version of the Quality of Care in Dialysis centers Questionnaire. Factor analyses and item reduction were performed to construct the Quality of Care in Dialysis centers Questionnaire. The questionnaire has four dimensions: doctors, nurses, other staff members and facilities; with eight descriptive items plus one item to measure satisfaction per dimension. A visual analog scale was added to determine overall satisfaction. The Quality of Care in Dialysis centers Questionnaire is used in Dutch dialysis centers. Further research should be conducted to establish preference weights per dimension on the basis of the visual analog scale scores.