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Missed Monday Appointments

We suggest that the authors might further analyze their data. We conducted a one-month survey in four outpatient facilities in Geneva, Switzerland, taking into account not only initial appointments but also follow-up ones (2). The overall rate of missed appointments was 8.1 percent (177 of 2,177 scheduled appointments). We found that delay is probably not the only time-related relevant factor. In our study, comparison of proportions of missed appointments indicated a trend (p<.052) for differences across days, with the highest proportion on Mondays (12.6 percent) and the lowest proportion on Wednesdays (6.5 percent). To our knowledge, this aspect has not yet been addressed in the literature. We hypothesize that similar differences might be observed in other behaviours, such as absenteeism at work.

We fully agree with Dr. Gallucci and his colleagues that a better understanding of the motives for missed appointments will contribute to preserving staff and financial resources.

Ariel Eytan, M.D., Marianne Gex-Fabry, M.Sc. and Gilles Bertschy, M.D.

Footnotes

The authors are affiliated with the department of psychiatry at Geneva University Hospitals.

References

1. Gallucci G, Swartz W, Hackerman F: Impact of the wait for an initial appointment on the rate of kept appointments at a mental health center. Psychiatric Services 56:344–346, 2005[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Eytan A, Gex-Fabry M, Ferrero F, et al: Missed appointments at outpatient psychiatric clinics in Geneva: a pilot study. Swiss Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry 155:125–128, 2004

Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Eytan, A. Articles by Bertschy, G. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Eytan, A. Articles by Bertschy, G. Stigma, Discrimination Treatment Compliance Outcome and Process Assessment Quality of Care, Practice Guidelines Mental Retardation Psychotherapies (General) Research Design, Methodology

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