Dialysis Patient Satisfaction Survey (DPSS)
The basic purpose of the Dialysis Patient Satisfaction Survey (DPSS) is to assess renal patients' satisfaction with the health care they are receiving, including satisfaction with their kidney doctor, the nurses they see at the dialysis clinic, other staff at the dialysis clinic and at their primary kidney doctor's office, the physical environment at the clinic, and their health plan. The questionnaire is designed for all dialysis patients, including patients who are receiving hemodialysis and those receiving peritoneal dialysis. The questionnaire is flexible enough to be used across the country and by both public and privately insured patients.
Available Documents
DPSS Questionnaire
The DPSS is designed to be self-administered by mail, but it could easily be adapted to be interviewer-administered. Average interview time during the pretest was 13 minutes. The DPSS is composed of 10 pages printed front and back. It contains 40 close ended questions in which the respondent is required to check off one or more responses, and one open ended question at the end of the questionnaire for respondent comments. The question specifications (definitions of certain terms, indications as to how to code an answer) are indicated directly on the questionnaire to facilitate administration. Unless otherwise indicated, only one response should be marked per question.
Spanish DPSS Questionnaire
The Spanish DPSS follows exactly the same layout as the English version and contains the same number of questions in exactly the same order. Like the English DPSS, the Spanish version of the survey was designed to be used in any region of the continental United States and by both public and privately insured patients.