Causes of appointment attendance, nonattendance, and cancellation in outpatient consultations at a university hospital
Agustina Briatore
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorEstefania Veronica Tarsetti
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Nacional “Prof. Alejandro Posadas”, El Palomar, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorAgustin Latorre
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín”, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorFernan Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quirós
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel Luna
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorNora Angélica Fuentes
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorCristina Maria Elizondo
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorAnalia Baum
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorMarina Alonso Serena
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Diego Hernán Giunta
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Departamento de investigación, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Correspondence
Diego Hernan Giunta, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Juan D. Perón 4190 (C1181ACH), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAgustina Briatore
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorEstefania Veronica Tarsetti
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Nacional “Prof. Alejandro Posadas”, El Palomar, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorAgustin Latorre
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín”, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorFernan Gonzalez Bernaldo de Quirós
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel Luna
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorNora Angélica Fuentes
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorCristina Maria Elizondo
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorAnalia Baum
Departamento de Informática en Salud, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorMarina Alonso Serena
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Diego Hernán Giunta
Área de Investigación en Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Servicio de Clínica Médica, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Departamento de investigación, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, CABA, Argentina
Correspondence
Diego Hernan Giunta, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Juan D. Perón 4190 (C1181ACH), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSummary
Background
Nonattendance to scheduled appointments in outpatient clinics is a frequent problem in ambulatory medicine with an impact on health systems and patients' health. The characterization of nonattendance is fundamental for the design of appropriate strategies for its management.
Aims
To identify causes of nonattendance of scheduled ambulatory medical appointments by adult patients.
Methods
Case and two controls study nested in a prospective cohort. A telephone-administered questionnaire was applied within the first 72 hours to identify the causes of attendance, nonattendance, or cancellation in patients who had a scheduled appointment to which they had been present, absent, or cancelled.
Results
A total of 150 absences (cases), 176 attendances, and 147 cancellations (controls) in a prospective cohort of 160 146 scheduled appointments (2012/2013) were included. According to self-reports in telephone interviews, the most frequent causes of nonattendance were forgetting 44% (66), unexpected competing events 15.3% (23), illness or unwellness 12% (18), work-related inconvenience 5.3% (8), transport-related difficulties 4.7% (4), and cause that motivated appointment scheduling already resolved 4.7% (4).
Discussion
The main cause of nonattendance is forgetting the scheduled appointment, but there is a proportion of different causes that do not respond to reminders but could respond to different strategies.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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