Health provider factors associated with nonattendance in pediatric dermatology ambulatory patients

Nonattendance for dermatology appointments disrupts the management of medical delivery and leads to inefficient allocation of resources and lost revenue. The factors that determine nonattendance in pediatric dermatology patients have not been well documented. We investigated health provider factors for nonattendance in pediatric dermatology patients. We assessed the effects of waiting time for an appointment and the timing of the appointment ( during the day, week, and year) on nonattendance proportions during a 1 year period. Chi-squared tests were used to analyze statistically significant differences of categorical variables. Logistic regression was used for multivariate analyses. A total of 1696 children visits were included in the study. The overall rate of nonattendance at the dermatology clinic was 30.5%. Nonattendance was 29.7% during the periods between 8 A. M. to 1 P. M. and 3 P. M. to 7 P. M. and 40.7% during the periods between 1 P. M. to 3 P. M. and 7 P. M. to 8 P. M. ( p = 0.013). Nonattendance was 21.1% when the waiting time for an appointment was short ( 1 - 7 days), 32.5% when it was intermediate ( 8 - 14 days) and 43.5% when the wait time was long ( 15 days and above) (p- value < 0.001). A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that the hour of the day and the waiting time for an appointment were significantly associated with nonattendance ( p value 0.009, p value < 0.001, respectively). We conclude that in children attending a dermatology clinic, health provider factors that determine nonattendance include the waiting time for an appointment and the hour of the appointment within the day.