Published Jan 17, 2013

Madrid, Spain - In the treatment of chronic illnesses, traditional measures of morbidity and mortality only partially evaluate the effectiveness of drugs and medical interventions. Although these treatments do not affect survival rates, they can cause serious side effects for months or even years. Patient satisfaction is a quality indicator that can be used to improve these treatments. A generic questionnaire designed for measuring chronic patients’ satisfaction with any prolonged pharmacological treatment – Treatment Satisfaction with Medicines questionnaire (SATMED-Q) - can detect changes in patients’ satisfaction with the treatment and has proved that patients’ different health statuses are correlated with different levels of satisfaction with treatment. Researchers from Pfizer Health Economics and Outcomes Research Department and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid School of Psychology explored the abilities of the SATMED-Q questionnaire in detecting changes in patients’ satisfaction with their treatments when these need to be modified. In the study, “Detecting changes in patient treatment satisfaction with medicines: The SATMED-Q questionnaire,” published in Value in Health, the researchers used data from 728 subjects who participated in a 6-month prospective study carried-out in pain clinics in Spain. Among those tested were patients with chronic refractory pain of a neuropathic origin who needed a change in their therapies. The results showed that SATMED-Q is responsive to different levels of patient satisfaction with therapy in chronically ill subjects and sensitive to changes in patient satisfaction with treatment in resistant chronic neuropathic pain patients. Additionally, the study found significant correlations between satisfaction and health domains related to pain, such as poor functioning, or symptoms of anxiety and depression. Adherence to treatment in this study was good in terms of frequency of study dropped outs or premature termination, and, thus, related to patient satisfaction with treatment. Javier Rejas, MD, PhD, HEOR Area Manager at HEOR Department in Pfizer, SLU, Spain states, “As the main investigator in this research, I feel that the findings of this study support the extensive use of the SATMED-Q questionnaire as a tool in daily medical practice and medical research to explore the satisfaction of patients with medicines and medical care. Knowing patients’ satisfaction with medicines may help clinicians to improve medical therapy adherence.”

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