Development and Validation of the Online Patient Satisfaction Index

Low Back Pain (LBP) is the most common musculoskeletal disorder and a leading cause of disability worldwide. It is the most frequent reason for consulting general practice and has an impact on daily life and work capacity. A cornerstone in treating LBP is the provision of information to patients, and the internet is increasingly being used as a source of health information delivery. However, the effect of and satisfaction with online information have been questioned. The investigators aimed to develop and validate a multi-item instrument to measure an index score of satisfaction of online information for patients with LBP. The conceptualization of a Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) to measure a multidimensional index score is modelled on the assumption of a causal relationship between domains of experiences with online information and patients' combined index score of satisfaction. Findings from 15 patient interviews was applied to draft the first version of the instrument. Followed by pilot testing on patients (n=20) and experts (n=7) before validating the instrument on patients (n=150). Patients were eligible for inclusion if they had their first onset of LBP for 14 days. Patients were included regardless of pain intensity. Patients were excluded if they did not have Internet access, were pregnant, did not speak Danish as their native language, or had signs of serious underlying disease.