BACKGROUND Patient satisfaction has become an increasingly important element in a service-oriented healthcare market. Although satisfaction is influenced by many factors, the waiting time to be seen by medical staff has been shown to be one of the key criteria. However, waiting is not an objective experience and several factors can influence its perception. METHODS We conducted a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study among patients attending the emergency unit of a Swiss university hospital in order to explore the key factors influencing wait perception. RESULTS A total of 509 patients participated in the study. Appropriate assessment of emergency level by caregivers, the feeling of being forgotten, respect of privacy, and lack of information on the exact waiting time were identified as significant variables for wait perception. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirmed the existence of a 'golden hour' when the patient is willing to wait until the medical encounter. In case the wait cannot be limited, an appropriate assessment of the emergency level by caregivers and avoiding the patients of feeling being forgotten are very important factors to avoid a negative perception of the waiting time before seeing a doctor. TRIAL REGISTRATION (ID REQ-2016-00555).

中文翻译：

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动态急诊室候诊室中患者的时间感知：一项横断面研究。

背景技术在以服务为导向的医疗保健市场中，患者满意度已成为越来越重要的要素。尽管满意度受许多因素影响，但已证明医务人员要等待的时间是关键标准之一。但是，等待不是客观的经历，并且有几个因素会影响其感知。方法我们对瑞士大学医院急诊科的患者进行了基于问卷调查的横断面研究，以探讨影响等待观感的关键因素。结果共有509名患者参加了该研究。护理人员对紧急情况的适当评估，被遗忘的感觉，对隐私的尊重以及确切的等待时间缺乏信息被确定为等待感知的重要变量。结论我们的研究证实了当患者愿意等到医疗过程时，存在“黄金时段”。如果不能限制等待时间，则护理人员对紧急情况的适当评估以及避免患者被遗忘的感觉是非常重要的因素，可以避免对看病之前的等待时间有负面的看法。试用注册（ID REQ-2016-00555）。