Instruments
To assess the patient satisfaction with health care, an adapted version
of the Patient Satisfaction with the Interview assessment Questionnaire
(PSIAQ) developed by Delvaux and his colleagues was used. This
instrument is designed to measure three important dimensions of clinical
communication (presentation, information and support) and presents good
psychometric qualities: for satisfaction with facilitating and listening
factors a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.84 and for the satisfaction with
informing and reassuring factors a value of 0.72. Questions are
presented using a four-point Likert, and the maximum satisfaction score
is 4.
The Portuguese version of the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) permitted
to evaluate patient’s subjective wellbeing22. The
scale is a 4-item scale with high internal consistency and good to
excellent reliability22. Responses were made on a
7-point scale, measuring to what extent does the characterization
describe them.
An original questionnaire assessed knowledge about dysphagia and the
patient’s knowledge about the adaptations in the consistency of food.
Authorization was requested and obtained from the ethics committee of
two hospitals with acute hospitalization. All the patients received oral
and written information about the study protocol and signed an informed
consent form.
Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential
statistics, using SPSS-24.0 software (Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences). For the comparison of the two groups, the Mann-Withney test
was applied and for comparison of the moment before and the moment after
the intervention, the Wilcoxon test was applied for a population median.
The binomial test was used in the association of the information
questions patients have about dysphagia as a function of the group.