Patients’ views on quality of care: a comparison of men and women

AIM: This study set out to explore gender differences among medical and surgical acute care inpatients regarding their perceptions of actual care conditions as well as their evaluation of the subjective importance of various care conditions. BACKGROUND: Firstly, the literature reports inconsistent findings regarding male and female patients' views on care. Secondly, the instruments used in most previous research are not derived from a patient perspective. METHODS: The sample consisted of 831 patients (48% were women and 52% were men) at two Swedish hospitals. Data were collected using the questionnaire 'Quality from the Patient's Perspective'. FINDINGS: Male and female patients tended to evaluate the actual care received similarly. However, women tend to assign the different care aspects higher subjective importance. CONCLUSION: More research is needed to illuminate the reasons why men and women hold these different values. Until these issues are better understood, there is no valid basis on a group (gender) level to give specific practical recommendations to nursing managers.