Storrs Mark J, Ramov Helen M, Lalloo Ratilal
Dr. Storrs is an associate member of the Population and Social Health Research Program, Menzies Health Institute of Queensland and Lecturer in General Dental Practice, School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia; Dr. Ramov is a general dentist in private practice in Victoria, Australia; and Dr. Lalloo is Associate Professor, School of Dentistry, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia and Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
J Dent Educ. 2016 Jan;80(1):30-9.
Non-attended appointments in health care facilities create inefficiencies and loss of clinical productivity: clinical teaching hours are reduced, impacting students' ability to meet the competencies necessary for professional registration. The aim of this study was to assess demographic and time-related factors for patient non-attendance at a dental school clinic in Australia. Appointment data were extracted from the patient management system for the years 2011 and 2012. Data included the status of appointment (attended, cancelled, or failed to attend [FTA]) and an array of demographic and time-related factors. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess relationships between these factors and appointment status. Attendance rates were also compared by year following implementation of a short message service (SMS) reminder at the beginning of 2012. The results showed that, of 58,622 appointments booked with students during 2011 and 2012, 68% of patients attended, 23% cancelled, and 9% were FTA. The percentage of non-attended (cancelled or FTA) appointments differed by demographic and time-related factors. Females were 7% less likely to be FTA, those aged 16-24 years were five times more likely to be FTA, and early morning appointments were 18% less likely to be cancelled and FTA. With the SMS reminder system, the odds of a cancellation were 15% higher, but FTAs were 14% lower (both were statistically significant differences). This study found that failing to attend an appointment was significantly related to a number of factors. Clinical scheduling and reminder systems may need to take these factors into account to decrease the number of teaching hours lost due to patients' missing their appointments.
临床教学时间减少，影响学生达到专业注册所需能力的能力。本研究的目的是评估澳大利亚一所牙科学院诊所患者未就诊的人口统计学和时间相关因素。从患者管理系统中提取了2011年和2012年的预约数据。数据包括预约状态（就诊、取消或未就诊[FTA]）以及一系列人口统计学和时间相关因素。进行多项逻辑回归以评估这些因素与预约状态之间的关系。还比较了2012年初实施短信提醒后各年份的就诊率。结果显示，在2011年和2012年与学生预约的58,622次就诊中，68%的患者就诊，23%的患者取消预约，9%的患者未就诊。未就诊（取消或FTA）预约的百分比因人口统计学和时间相关因素而异。女性未就诊的可能性低7%，16 - 24岁的人未就诊的可能性高五倍，清晨预约取消和未就诊的可能性低18%。有了短信提醒系统，取消预约的几率高15%，但未就诊的几率低14%（两者均为统计学上的显著差异）。本研究发现未就诊与许多因素显著相关。临床排班和提醒系统可能需要考虑这些因素，以减少因患者错过预约而损失的教学时间。
