Who misses appointments? An empirical analysis.

Patient noncompliance is a major problem in clinical practice. In order to better understand this issue, 236 appointments at an outpatient psychiatry clinic of a large urban general hospital were examined. Five variables significantly discriminated patients who kept their appointments from patients who did not. Patients who were younger, had a history of missed appointments, were scheduled to see a resident physician, had a routine appointment and lived a distance from the hospital, were at greater risk of missing their appointment. This information helps to identify patients at high risk of nonattendance and allows clinicians to plan schedules and appointments more efficiently.