Factors associated with non-attendance at outpatient endoscopy.
OBJECTIVE
Non-attendance at endoscopy procedures leads to wasted resources and increased costs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with non-attendance.


METHODS
All patients who attended the outpatient clinic for gastroscopy or colonoscopy examinations were included in the study. Patients who missed their appointment were identified and their data were collected prospectively. Patients who kept their appointment in the same period of time served as controls.


RESULTS
Between August 2002 and February 2003, 1051 gastroscopies and 756 colonoscopies were scheduled. A total of 265 patients (14.7%) missed their appointment. No significant differences were found between attendees and non-attendees for mean age, gender, type of examination and day of the week on which the examination was scheduled. The time on the waiting list was longer in patients who did not keep their appointment than in those who did. Fewer appointments were missed in patients with a preferent referral, and among patients referred by their general practitioner a higher percentage failed to keep their appointment compared with those referred by a specialist. In the multivariate analysis, length of time on the waiting list and the source of referral were the only two independent predictive factors for non-attendance.


CONCLUSIONS
A longer time on the waiting list and referral by a general practitioner are factors associated with patients failing to keep their endoscopy appointment.
Sola-vera
Javier
J
Hospital General Universitario de Elche, Elche, Spain. solavera_jav@gva.es
Sáez
Jesús
J
Laveda
Raquel
R
Girona
Eva
E
García-Sepulcre
Mariana Fe
MF
Cuesta
Amador
A
Vázquez
Narcís
N
Uceda
Francisco
F
Pérez
Estefanía
E
Sillero
Carlos
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D017748:Time Management