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Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview

Missed appointments affect patients' health in addition to reducing practice efficiency. This study explored the rate and reasons of non-attendance among patients with chronic illnesses. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in a family practice clinic over a one-month period i...

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Main Authors: Zailinawati, A.H., Ng, Chirk Jenn, Nik-Sherina, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2006
Subjects:
R Medicine
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/1/Zailinawati-2006-Why_do_patients_with.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/
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spelling my.um.eprints.103052019-08-26T07:56:06Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/ Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview Zailinawati, A.H. Ng, Chirk Jenn Nik-Sherina, H. R Medicine Missed appointments affect patients' health in addition to reducing practice efficiency. This study explored the rate and reasons of non-attendance among patients with chronic illnesses. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in a family practice clinic over a one-month period in 2004. Those who failed to turn up for scheduled appointments were interviewed by telephone based on a structured questionnaire. Out of 671 patients, the non-attendance rate was 16.7. Sixty-seven percent of non-attenders were successfully interviewed. Males (p=0.01), Indians (p=0.015), patients with coronary artery disease (p=0.017), multiple diseases ( >= 4) (p=0.036) and shorter appointment intervals (p=0.001) were more likely to default. The main reasons for non-attendance were: forgot the appointment dates (32.9), not feeling well (12.3), administrative errors (19.1) and work or family commitments (8.2). The majority would prefer a reminder through telephone (71.4), followed by letters (41.3). In conclusion, appropriate intervention could be taken based on the reasons identified in this study. SAGE Publications 2006 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/1/Zailinawati-2006-Why_do_patients_with.pdf Zailinawati, A.H. and Ng, Chirk Jenn and Nik-Sherina, H. (2006) Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 18 (1). pp. 10-15. ISSN 1010-5395
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
language English
topic R Medicine
spellingShingle R Medicine
Zailinawati, A.H.
Ng, Chirk Jenn
Nik-Sherina, H.
Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
description Missed appointments affect patients' health in addition to reducing practice efficiency. This study explored the rate and reasons of non-attendance among patients with chronic illnesses. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in a family practice clinic over a one-month period in 2004. Those who failed to turn up for scheduled appointments were interviewed by telephone based on a structured questionnaire. Out of 671 patients, the non-attendance rate was 16.7. Sixty-seven percent of non-attenders were successfully interviewed. Males (p=0.01), Indians (p=0.015), patients with coronary artery disease (p=0.017), multiple diseases ( >= 4) (p=0.036) and shorter appointment intervals (p=0.001) were more likely to default. The main reasons for non-attendance were: forgot the appointment dates (32.9), not feeling well (12.3), administrative errors (19.1) and work or family commitments (8.2). The majority would prefer a reminder through telephone (71.4), followed by letters (41.3). In conclusion, appropriate intervention could be taken based on the reasons identified in this study.
format Article
author Zailinawati, A.H.
Ng, Chirk Jenn
Nik-Sherina, H.
author_facet Zailinawati, A.H.
Ng, Chirk Jenn
Nik-Sherina, H.
author_sort Zailinawati, A.H.
title Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
title_short Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
title_full Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
title_fullStr Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
title_full_unstemmed Why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? A telephone interview
title_sort why do patients with chronic illnesses fail to keep their appointments? a telephone interview
publisher SAGE Publications
publishDate 2006
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/1/Zailinawati-2006-Why_do_patients_with.pdf
http://eprints.um.edu.my/10305/
_version_ 1643688767683297280
score 13.211869

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