Missed appointments at public hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: Failure to keep appointments poses many problems for patients, physicians and health personnel. The objective of the study is to identify factors influencing appointment failure in Riyadh Central Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: The study sample consisted of 500 Saudi patients selected randomly from Riyadh Central Hospital's records. Two hundred and fifty were selected from patients who broke at least one appointment and another 250 were selected from patients who have a history of keeping records. Interviews were carried out by telephone using a structured questionnaire, only 426 patients consented to participate in the study.

RESULTS: The study showed that appointment failure rate is 30%. The data revealed no associations between missed appointment, behavior and age, income, travel time and method of transportation. None of the health related variables investigated were associated with missed appointments. The breakers stated waiting time before seeing a doctor, time from scheduling to appointments, transportation (particularly for women) and forgetfulness as the main reasons for missing appointments.

CONCLUSION: Broken appointments can be reduced by continuous health education for patients, improving efficiency of health administrators, telephone reminders and by physicians negotiating a follow-up schedule for their patients.