• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.1153-1163
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patients' satisfaction with the quality of hospital food service in Busan area. For the purpose, questionnaires were distributed to 271 hospitalized patients in 4 hospitals (three hospitals for self-operated foodservice, one for contracted foodservice) within 130 beds. The average scores were -0.99/5.00 for quality satisfaction of meal characteristics, -0.68/5.00 for service characteristics, and -0.37/5.00 for nutrition characteristics. The items of low scores in quality satisfaction were treatment of complaints, nutrition of meals, provision of nutritional information, the seasoning of the meals, selective menu, and sanitation of the meals. At the expectation and perception grid, high expectation and high perception items were cleanliness of employees' clothes, cleanliness of dish, employees' courtesy, exactness of meal time, and sanitation of the meals. High expectation and low perception items were treatment of complaints and nutrition. The patients with little appetite showed significantly (p<0.01) lower average scores in meal, service, and nutrition characteristics than those with much appetite. The self-operated foodservice operation had significantly (p<0.01) higher average scores in meal, service, and nutrition characteristics than those of the contracted foodservice operation. The patients hoped to improve the taste of cooked rice and side dish, quantity of the side dish, variety of menu, and sanitation of the meals.