Patient Preference and Adherence (Aug 2020)

Patient Satisfaction and Food Waste in Obstetrics And Gynaecology Wards

  • Schiavone S,
  • Pistone MT,
  • Finale E,
  • Guala A,
  • Attena F

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 1381 – 1388

Abstract

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Sara Schiavone,1 Maria Teresa Pistone,1 Enrico Finale,2 Andrea Guala,2 Francesco Attena1 1Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples 80138, Italy; 2Department of Maternal and Child Health, ASL Verbano Cusio Ossola, Omegna, VB 28887, ItalyCorrespondence: Francesco AttenaDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Via Luciano Armanni, 5, Naples 80138, ItalyTel +39 081 5666012Email [email protected]: Patient satisfaction is an indicator of healthcare quality, and expectation is an important determinant. A component of patient satisfaction is the quality of foodservice. An indicator of this quality is the food wasted by hospitalised patients. In the present study, we investigated patient satisfaction regarding food and foodservice, the expectation on food quality and the amount of food wasted in two obstetrics and gynaecology wards in Northern and Southern Italy.Patients and Methods: A questionnaire, including sociodemographic data, rate of food waste, expectations of food quality and characteristics of food and foodservice, was administrated to 550 inpatients in obstetrics and gynaecology wards (275 for each hospital). Univariate analysis was performed to describe the results, and multivariate analysis was carried out to control for sociodemographic data.Results: Northern patients were more satisfied with the quality of food (54.2% vs 36.0%) and foodservice (54.5% vs 38.2%) than southern patients. Northern patients had more positive expectations about the quality of food (69.5% vs 31.6%), whereas southern patients stated that they had no expectations. Southern patients gave more importance to mealtime (72.7% vs 26.2%), and many of them brought food from home to the hospital (30.2% vs 2.2%) through relatives who came to visit them. Southern patients discarded about 41.7% of food served, whereas northern patients discarded only about 15.3%.Discussion: Food waste is a worldwide problem due to its economic, social and environmental effects. Especially in hospitals, food waste could have a negative impact on the overall patient satisfaction.Keywords: food quality, food service, hospital, food waste, patient satisfaction

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