An excellent clinical outcome does not guarantee satisfaction.
Health may improve, vision may be safe and stable, or symptoms may be reduced — yet the experience may still feel different from what a patient expected. Expectations shape how outcomes are perceived.
Studies in patient-reported outcomes have shown that satisfaction is influenced not only by clinical success, but also by personal beliefs, prior experiences, and emotional responses¹. Even when everything goes well medically, disappointment can occur if expectations were different from reality.
Medicine involves probabilities, trade-offs, and individual variation. A result can be “excellent” on clinical measures while still feeling underwhelming to the patient.
Feeling dissatisfied does not automatically mean care was poor. It often means expectations were misaligned with the outcome achieved.
Revisiting expectations — before and after treatment — helps patients understand what success realistically looks like and prevents emotional disappointment from being mistaken for medical failure².
References
- Greenfield S, Kaplan SH, Ware JE. Expanding patient involvement in care: effects on patient outcomes. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1985;102(4):520–528.
- Bowling A. Measuring health: a review of quality of life measurement scales. Open University Press; 2004.
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