Home|Journals|Articles by Year|Audio Abstracts
 

Original Research



Reasons for missing appointments in general clinics of primary health care center in Riyadh Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia

Zahi Alhamad.




Abstract

Background. Non-attendance in general practice has received increasing attention over the past few years. Its relationship with access to health care has been recognized. Missed appointments have serious clinical and economic consequences.
Study objectives: This study aims to identify the reasons for missing appointments in general clinics in Alwazarat health care center during the period from December 2010 to March 2011.

Methods: All eligible patients who missed appointments to general clinics, in Alwazarat center and controls who show up for their appointment, were enrolled in the study using quasi-randomization for sample selection. On the same day of missing the appointment three clerks were assigned by the doctor in-charge of the center to assist in data collection. A structured phone interview was conducted with patients enrolled in the study and the control group using a validated questionnaire.

Results: The demographic factors associated with missing appointments were: female gender, younger age group and poor socioeconomic status. The important top five causes for missing appointments were: difficulty booking an appointment, work commitment, long distance travel, unavailability of transportation, visiting another health care facility. Among the group who missed appointment, the impact of missing appointment on health care service was unknown.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the factors that are associated with missed appointments facilitates the prospective identification of patients at risk of missing appointment and helps the continuous quality improvement for future planning which may include program modifications, and formulation of strategies to reduce the risk and rate of non-attendance.

Key words: Missed appointments, Primary health care, Saudi Arabia.






Full-text options


Share this Article


Online Article Submission
• ejmanager.com




ejPort - eJManager.com
Refer & Earn
JournalList
About BiblioMed
License Information
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Contact Us

The articles in Bibliomed are open access articles licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.