• Arnon D Cohen, Daniel M Kaplan, Jonathan Shapiro, Itzhak Levi, and Daniel A Vardy.
• Clalit Health Services, Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
• Laryngoscope. 2005 Oct 1; 115 (10): 1804-8.

IntroductionNonattendance for otolaryngology appointments disrupts the management of medical care and leads to ineffective use of resources. The determinants of nonattendance in pediatric otolaryngology patients have not been well documented.ObjectivesTo investigate health provider determinants of nonattendance in pediatric otolaryngology patients.Study DesignWe 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 square tests were used to analyze statistically significant differences of categorical variables. Logistic regression was used for multivariate analyses.ResultsA total of 2,628 pediatric visits were included in the study. The overall proportion of nonattendance at the pediatric otolaryngology clinic was 33.0%. Nonattendance proportions were 32.7% between 7 AM and 9 AM; 28.3% between 9 AM and 2 PM, and 36.5% between 2 PM and 8 PM (P < .001). The proportion of nonattendance was 24.1% when there was a short waiting time for an appointment (0-7 days), and 36.3% when there was an intermediate waiting time (7-15 days), and 36.6% when there was a long waiting time (15 days and above)(P < .001, P < .012, respectively). CONCLUSIVE: Health provider determinants of nonattendance in pediatric otolaryngology clinic appointments include the waiting time for an appointment and the hour of the appointment within the day.

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