Does patient satisfaction correlate with succes?

The authors studied the relationship between patient satisfaction and success of treatment in a group of out-patients consecutively admitted to two community mental health centers in California in 1975. The study is based on patient ratings of the satisfaction with treatment and the success of treatment at the second visit, the last visit, and follow-up, as well as on therapists' ratings of treatment success at the second visit and the last visit. At both time points the therapists' mean ratings of treatment success were significantly lower than the patients'. Significant but low correlations between satisfaction and success indicate that satisfaction ratings cannot replace success ratings or other outcome indicators in assessments of quality of care.