[Validation of the SERVPERF tool for quality analysis in emergency care with clinical ultrasound].

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the reliability and validity of the SERVPERF questionnaire for assessing the quality of care from the patient's perspective in emergency departments for abdominal pain patients undergoing clinical ultrasound, as well as the influence of sex.

Design: Prospective study from March 2023 to April 2024 involving patients treated for abdominal pain who underwent clinical ultrasound.

Setting: Emergency department.

Participants: Adults over 18 years old with abdominal pain.

Interventions: Conducting clinical ultrasound and collecting the adapted SERVPERF questionnaire.

Main measurements: Overall score of the questionnaire, sex, age, length of stay in the emergency department, referral origin, discharge destination, ultrasound results.

Results: A total of 115 patients were included, with a mean age of 58.2 years (SD: 19.4) and 66.1% being women. To validate the questionnaire, the Bartlett's test of sphericity yielded a value of 0.000 (P<.05) and the KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin) test resulted in a value of 0.855 (>0.5). The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha: 0.928 (95% CI: 0.908-0.946). The mean score on the scale was 124.57±9.30. Men showed a higher overall mean score than women, approaching statistical significance (P=.05). Using multiple linear regression, no variable was independently associated with a higher perception of quality in care, although sex was marginally significant.

Conclusions: The SERVPERF questionnaire is shown to be reliable and valid for determining the perceived quality of service. Additionally, the perceived quality of care using clinical ultrasound in the emergency department was very high. No differences based on sex were observed.