López Martínez P, Algarín H, Beauchamp V E, Lugo C, Ortiz C, Vega M, Velázquez E, Zayas Y, Santiago A
Social Work Service Department, Veterans Administration Hospital, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936.
P R Health Sci J. 1987 Dec;6(3):141-6.
The study asked how do elderly veterans who fail to keep appointments in the General Medicine and Surgery Out-Patient Clinics in the San Juan, VA Hospital differ from those who do not. Three hypothesis were formulated: 1. Elderly patients who fail to keep appointments have other medical alternatives in non-VA facilities. 2. Elderly patients who fail to keep appointments have a longer waiting time between appointments. 3. Elderly patients who are given appointments in various clinics within a short period of time fail to keep appointments. A sample of fifty-three elderly veterans from the Medical Out-Patient Clinics was drawn. A face-to-face structured interview was used to collect the data. The interview was designed to obtain socio-demographic characteristics, use of clinics, and recommendations to improve services. A percentage analysis was used to point out differences and similarities. The findings supported the hypothesis that patients who failed to keep appointments not only used private non-VA facilities, but also had the financial resources to pay for them. Data confirmed that those who failed to keep appointments have to wait a longer time between appointments. Patients who failed to keep appointments considered them too infrequent which resulted in forgetting the appointments.
该研究调查了在弗吉尼亚州圣胡安医院普通内科和外科门诊未能如约就诊的老年退伍军人与如约就诊的老年退伍军人有何不同。提出了三个假设：1. 未能如约就诊的老年患者在非退伍军人事务部（VA）的医疗机构有其他医疗选择。2. 未能如约就诊的老年患者两次预约之间的等待时间更长。3. 在短时间内在不同诊所获得预约的老年患者未能如约就诊。从内科门诊抽取了53名老年退伍军人作为样本。通过面对面的结构化访谈收集数据。该访谈旨在获取社会人口统计学特征、诊所使用情况以及改善服务的建议。采用百分比分析来指出差异和相似之处。研究结果支持了以下假设：未能如约就诊的患者不仅使用了非VA的私立医疗机构，而且有财力支付费用。数据证实，未能如约就诊的患者两次预约之间要等待更长时间。未能如约就诊的患者认为预约次数太少，导致他们忘记了预约。
