A Validity and Reliability Study of Universitas Sebelas Maret Patient Satisfaction Level-Questionnaire (UNS-TyQ8) for Patients after a Benign Thyroid Procedure

BACKGROUND: There are no tools to measure patients' satisfaction after a thyroid procedure. Many papers about measuring patients' quality of life after a procedure for malignant thyroid have been written and published. However, we need a simple and comprehensive questionnaire to measure the satisfaction of the thyroid procedure. This study aimed to develop a patient satisfaction level questionnaire (UNS-TyQ8) for benign thyroid nodule patients after surgery in Indonesia and to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire by using established models. METHODS: The first step was collecting patient complaints one month after lobectomy thyroid surgery. Then, we compiled a collection of questions that patients often complain about. From these 80 patients, we got eight questions frequently asked by patients. These patients were asked to make an interview appointment, either face-to-face or by phone. A complete interview was conducted by an interviewer. The answers were documented and analyzed. A total of 30 patients with benign thyroid nodules completed the interview after their surgery. We assessed the construct validity and reliability using Pearson's r-table value and Cronbach's α coefficient. RESULTS: The results of the analysis showed that 30 participants completed all eight questions of the instrument between March and August  2020; the Pearson's value of all items of the UNS-TyQ8 with Cronbach alpha value indicated the questionnaire was reliable,  r=0.733 (r>0.60). From the validity test results, all questions had a value greater than the r-table, 0.361. The lowest score was 0.364, which was obtained from question number 4. Meanwhile, the highest score was in question number 7, which was 0.616. This indicated that these questions were valid. So, it can be stated that these questions are valid and reliable. CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study proves that UNS-TyQ8 is accepted, valid, and reliable. It can be used for future investigation, especially in patients undergoing a thyroid surgery procedure.