The Impact of Emergency Department Visits on Missed Outpatient Appointments: A Retrospective Study in a Hospital in Southern Italy

TL;DR

This study finds that missed outpatient appointments are linked to emergency department visits, with age and gender as key predictors.

Contribution

The study identifies specific patient characteristics associated with missed appointments and ED use, offering insights for system-level interventions.

Findings

37.3% of patients with missed appointments also visited the ED.

Older age and male gender were significant predictors of missed appointments followed by ED visits.

Distance from the hospital and medical specialty were not significantly associated with missed appointments.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Missed outpatient appointments contribute to care discontinuity and emergency department (ED) overcrowding. This study investigated the association between missed appointments and ED visits, identifying predictors such as patient characteristics, distance from the hospital, and waiting time. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using a dataset of 749,450 scheduled outpatient appointments from adult patients (aged ≥ 18 years). Patients under 18 were excluded. We identified missed appointments and assessed their association with ED visits occurring in the same period. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, and logistic and linear regression models were applied to examine predictors such as age, sex, distance from the hospital, waiting time, the type of service, and medical specialty. Results: The overall no-show rate was 3.85%. Among patients with missed appointments, 37.3% also visited the ED. An older age (OR = 1.007; p = 0.006) and the male gender (OR = 1.498; p < 0.001) were significant predictors of having a scheduled appointment before an ED visit. No significant associations were found for distance or specialty branch. Conclusions: Missed appointments are associated with ED utilization. Predictive factors can inform targeted interventions, such as via improved scheduling systems and personalized reminders. Distance alone may not be a barrier, but system-level solutions are needed to address no-show rates and optimize healthcare resource use.

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