Patient Satisfaction and the Image of the Pharmaceutical Industry in a Comparison of Patient Groups Differences in Patient Attitudes by Disease and Healthcare Consumers in General
Yasuhiro Tsukahara (Professor, School of Information and Communication, Meiji University)
Hiromiko Fujisawa (Information Systems Office, Meiji University)
Takashi Iwai (Chief Researcher, The Office of Pharmaceutical Industry Research )
Mikio Sasabayashi ( The Office of Pharmaceutical Industry Research Senior Researcher)
Hiroyuki Fukuhara ( The Office of Pharmaceutical Industry Research Former Senior Researcher)
(No.36: Published in April 2007)
In order to clarify patient attitudes toward each disease based on comparisons of patients' associations' perceptions of patient satisfaction with medical care and pharmaceuticals and their image of the pharmaceutical industry, and to examine the differences between these attitudes and those of medical consumers in general, surveys and analyses were conducted among patients' associations and medical consumers in general for allergy, rheumatism, kidney disease, dementia, and breast cancer. The results of the survey and analysis showed that the patients were satisfied with their medical care and medicines.
The results showed that, first, patients' associations tended to be more satisfied with medical care and pharmaceuticals than medical consumers in general, and that patients' intentions were respected during treatment and selection of pharmaceuticals. In addition, most patient groups and health care consumers in general perceived satisfaction with physicians' treatment skills and communication as inseparable, and these were influential in their satisfaction with health care in general. Second, satisfaction with receiving up-to-date medical care and being prescribed up-to-date pharmaceuticals was generally not strong. Third, in general, satisfaction with pharmaceuticals had the strongest influence on satisfaction with medical care in general, but satisfaction with both pharmaceuticals and medical care was low for dementia and breast cancer. In addition, in general, satisfaction with the effectiveness and safety of pharmaceuticals were perceived as combined, and satisfaction with the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals had a strong influence on overall satisfaction with pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, the image of the pharmaceutical industry was strongly perceived as contributing to health by many patient groups and medical consumers in general, and the contribution to health, high reliability, and a strong sense of familiarity were found to influence the overall image of the pharmaceutical industry.
Two points to note about this study are that the number of valid respondents and the age structure of respondents from each patient group and healthcare consumers in general were different, and that the responses from the dementia patient groups were from patients' family members. In addition, as a future development, a new research study on the impact of differences due to disease severity and other factors on the level of satisfaction would be necessary.