The impact of social deprivation on patient satisfaction in physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine using the press Ganey® outpatient medical practice survey

Multiple factors (patient age, wait time, depression, etc.) have been associated with lower patient satisfaction as assessed by the Press Ganey® Outpatient Medical Practice Survey (PGOMPS). Social deprivation has been shown to impact multiple aspects of patient care but its impact on patient satisfaction in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) is limited. We hypothesized that increased social deprivation would independently predict lower patient satisfaction, as measured by the PGOMPS. Retrospective large cohort study. Single tertiary academic institution. Adult patients seen by PM&R physicians practicing outpatient interventional spine and musculoskeletal medicine who completed PGOMPS between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2019. Independent variables include: Social deprivation as measured by 2015 Area Deprivation Index (ADI), wait time, patient age, and sex. Patient satisfaction was defined as receiving a perfect PGOMPS Total Score. A totla of 64,875 patients (mean age 52.7 ± 21.8 years, 41.4% male, mean ADI 29.9 ± 18.8) were included. Univariate analysis showed a decreased odds of achieving satisfaction for each decile increase in ADI (odds ratio 0.965; 95% confidence interval 0.957–0.973; p < 0.001). The most socially deprived quartile was significantly less likely to report satisfaction on PGOMPS compared to the least deprived quartile (91.1 vs 93.2; p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis revealed that the odds of achieving satisfaction was 0.99 (95% confidence interval 0.980 to 0.997; p = 0.009) for the Total Score, independent of age, wait time, and patient sex for each decile increase in ADI. In this cohort, increased social deprivation independently predicted patient dissatisfaction in PM&R.