Association between missed appointment and related factors of patients with cancer in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

For the hospital administration, 1 major responsibility is to prevent the outflow of existing patients and minimize losses because of the failure of patients with cancer to attend appointments. We analyzed the association between no-show rates and characteristics of patients with cancer at a tertiary hospital in Seoul using patient affair data. Among the 680 190 patients, no-show rates were 4.39% and 3.37% for males and females, respectively. Male patients with colon and rectum, pancreas, and liver cancer had higher no-show rates (5.81%, 5.8%, and 5.1%). Among females, pancreas, colon and rectum, and liver cancer were associated with high no-show rates (5.65%, 5.44%, and 4.92%). For both males and females, liver (males: OR = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.68-2.44; females: OR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.60-2.28) and pancreas (males: OR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.57-2.50; females: OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.61-2.42) cancer were associated with high no-show rates. To reduce the rate of no-shows, hospitals should establish and enforce "missed appointment" policies as well as its effect upon health outcome.