title: Factors affecting non-attendance in an ophthalmic outpatient department.
abstract: The object of the study was to establish the non-attendance rates in an ophthalmic outpatient department and any non-attendance patterns that may be useful in managing future outpatient resources. A detailed retrospective survey of monthly non-attendance rates was carried out in the outpatient department of a dedicated eye hospital over a 1 year period looking at differences in non-attendance between morning and afternoon clinics and new and review patients. A total of 43,004 scheduled outpatient appointments predominantly from the suburban population of the Merseyside region were made at St Paul's Eye Hospital from the 1 February 1990 to 31 January 1991. Five thousand four hundred and twenty-four appointments were missed giving an overall non-attendance rate of 12.6%. Non-attendance rates for morning and afternoon appointments were 12.0% and 13.0%, respectively: and for new and review patients, 11.9% and 12.8%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that patients with afternoon appointments were on average 1.10 times more likely to non-attend than morning patients (P = 0.002), and that review patients were 1.09 times more likely to non-attend than new patients (P = 0.04). In order to maximize outpatient department efficiency, a reduction in non-attendance is essential. Establishing patterns for non-attendance provides us with a framework around which we can plan measures to compensate for outpatient non-attendance.
authors.affiliation: St Paul's Eye Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014504:Urban Health