ArticleBMC health services research2022
Evaluating the reasons for nonattendance to outpatient consultations: is waiting time an important factor?
Article in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Enhancing resource utilisation in outpatient clinics: impact of telephone and text reminders on did not attend and short notice cancellation .BMJ open quality · 2026Article
- Ranking patients' non-clinical preferences in referring to specialist physicians in the private sector: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNonattendance is a common problem worldwide. Important factors for nonattendance are a queue or the waiting time until the planned service.
aimsThe aims of this study were to identify the reasons for nonattendance to planned consultations, assess the waiting time from registration to access to an outpatient specialist consultation, and identify the associations between the reasons for nonattendance and the waiting time until the planned outpatient specialist consultation.
methodsA cross-sectional study based on a phone questionnaire was conducted among patients not attending a planned consultation at the outpatient department of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Hospital in Kaunas, Lithuania. A total of 972 phone calls were made, and 389 telephone surveys were completed.
resultsThe mean respondents' waiting time until the planned outpatient consultation was 15.13 ± 10 days. The highest proportion of nonattendance was observed when the wait time was between 6 and 17 days. More often, the patients did not attend the planned outpatient consultation due to worsened health status (24.69%), unidentified personal problems (14.91%), work-related problems (13.62%) and being unaware about the appointment (11.82%). A longer waiting time was significantly associated with the following reasons for nonattendance: work-related problems, health problems solved at another health care institution, unidentified personal problems and unknown reasons for nonattendance. The highest proportions of nonattending patients had consultations registered with neurologists (17.0%), traumatologists (11.3%) and cardiologists (10.5%).
conclusionsPatients did not identify the long waiting time until outpatient specialist consultation among the main reasons for nonattendance. The issue of waiting time is not an important aspect of nonattendance.
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