23 Expectations and satisfaction of patients with low back pain attending a multidisciplinary rehabilitation service CHRISTOPHER J McCARTHY and JACKIE A OLDHAM Centre for Rehabilitation Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester Royal Infirmary , UK RUTH SEPHTON St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust, Merseyside, UK ABSTRACT Background and Purpose. To identify the expectations of service, and degree of satisfaction, with a multidisciplinary service for patients with low back pain, and to examine the strength of association between patients’ satisfaction and expectations. Method. A three-stage study design was used: concerns were identified by a focus group; priority issues were identified by ranking by use of a Delphi consensus questionnaire; satis- faction or expectation questionnaires were also used to rate patients’ satisfaction and the degree to which expectations were met. Subjects. Three convenience samples of patients with low back pain were recruited. Ten patients attended the focus group, 55 completed the Delphi consensus questionnaire and 40 completed the satisfaction or expectation question- naires. Results. Patients rated a clear diagnosis and effective treatment as important, and the ease with which they could access the service and post-discharge follow-up as impor- tant issues when judging satisfaction. Patients rated their overall satisfaction and meeting their expectations higher than specific service issues, and the strengths of the associations between the two constructs varied from concern to concern. Conclusion. Certain aspects of service provision are rated with greater importance than others when patients judge a service they have experienced. There are differences in the strength of associations between the constructs of patient satisfaction and meeting expectations of service, specific to the individual service concern that is being evaluated. The present study provides more evidence that specific concerns within service provision should be identified before evalu- ating patients’ expectations and satisfaction with the service overall. Key words: expectations, low back pain, satisfaction INTRODUCTION Low back pain may not be a life-threatening condition but it constitutes a major public health problem in Western industriali zed societies, and exhibits epidemic proportions (Deyo, 1998). In the UK, approximately nine per cent of those suffering from low back pain visit a physiotherapist (NHS or private), at a total cost of £250 million per annum (Maniadakis and Gray , 2000). This extraordinarily high cost is matched by the Physiotherapy Research International, 10(1) 23–31, 2005 © Whurr Publishers Ltd