title: Factors associated with non-attendance at pediatric allergy clinics.
abstract: Non-attendance for scheduled appointments is common in many medical specialties. However, there are no published reports on non-attendance in pediatric allergy clinics. We investigated the factors for non-attendance in pediatric allergy patients. We assessed the effects of age, gender, ethnic origin, waiting time for an appointment and the timing of the appointment on non-attendance proportions. Chi-square tests were used to analyze statistically significant differences of categorical variables. Logistic regression models were used for multivariate analyses. A total of 442 visits in a 21-month period were included in the study. The overall proportion of non-attendance at the pediatric allergy clinic was 33.0%. Jewish rural patients had 19.4% non-attendance; Jewish urban patients had 35.6% non-attendance; and Bedouin patients had 57.1% non-attendance (p < 0.001). Non-attendance was higher in spring and winter (43.5% and 36.7%, respectively) than in summer and autumn (26.9% and 26.5%, respectively) (p = 0.016). Non-attendance was not significantly influenced by gender, age, hour of the appointment or waiting time for the appointment. A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that the ethnic origin of the patients and the season of the year were significantly associated with non-attendance. We conclude that in children attending allergy clinics, factors that determine non-attendance include the ethnic origin of the patients and the season of the year.
authors.affiliation: Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, PO Box 653 Beer-Sheva, 84150 Israel. jacod@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dreiher
authors.forename: Aviv
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldbart
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hershkovich
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Vardy
authors.forename: Arnon D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D018912:Arabs; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012621:Seasons; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data