Missed Appointments and the Potential Correlation between Personal Characteristics, Personality, and Familial Characteristics and Missed Appointments for Adults with Diabetes Mellitus at the Primary Care Unit of Khon Kaen Province.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Regular follow-up treatment is important for the management of diabetes and to reduce the risk of complications. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the proportion of adult diabetic patients who miss appointments, in addition to the potential correlation between personal characteristics, personality, and the context of family structure and characteristics and missed appointments by adult patients with type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The data were gathered through self-administered questionnaires and the patient medical records of 106 individuals who received healthcare services at the Khon Kaen Province primary care unit. Data were gathered from 1 November 2023 to 28 December 2023. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and Chi-Square statistics were used to evaluate the relationships with multivariate analyses via multinomial logistic regression and the Kruskal-Wallis test.

RESULTS

The majority of patients in the sample, 39.62%, regularly missed appointments. There was a significant association between occasionally missed appointments and middle adulthood (-value 0.013) and regular exercise (-value 0.025). A moderate level of the agreeableness personality trait showed a significant association with missed appointments (-value 0.042).

CONCLUSIONS

It is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the patient's personality and family characteristics to effectively plan their healthcare and provide optimal support for diabetes treatment.