title: Non-attendance in endocrinology and metabolism patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Non-attendance in outpatient clinics might disrupt medical care, interfere with outpatient clinic processing, and waste health service resources. This study was performed to identify predictive factors for non-attendance in endocrinology and metabolism (Endo/Meta) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Non-attendance was examined for a period of 6 months in Endo/Meta outpatient clinics in a medical center in Taiwan. Effects of physician, clinic, and patient characteristics, and appointment patterns in non-attendance were assessed by ξ(2) test and multivariate logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, a total of 13,584 patients booked appointments for 609 Endo/Meta clinics managed by 11 specialists. The mean number of appointments per patient was 2.3 ± 1.1. The total number of registered visits was 31,143. The total number of non-attendances was 2272. The overall proportion of non-attendance in Endo/Meta patients was 7.3%. The proportion of non-attendance varied with different physician teaching status and on different weekdays. In multivariate logistic regression, physician age (p = 0.0009), physician teaching status (p = 0.0013), number of physician shifts per week (p< 0.0001), patient age (p< 0.0001), first-time appointment (p< 0.0001) and registration order in the clinic (p < 0.0001) had significant effects on non-attendance, whereas physician and patient sex, weekdays and daytimes of clinics had no significant effect on non-attendance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Determinants of non-attendance in Endo/Meta patients include older physician age, lower physician teaching status, number of physician shifts per week, younger patient age, first-time appointment, and later registration order in the clinic. Research on non-attendance should be applied to improve quality of medical care. Optimal ways to ensure attendance deserve further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan. fytseng@ntu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Fen-Yu
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Tseng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004704:Endocrinology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan