• Kylee Rucinski, Emily Leary, Brett D Crist, and James L Cook.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Thompson Laboratory for Regenerative Orthopaedics, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA. Electronic address: rucinskik@health.missouri.edu.
• Injury. 2023 Mar 1; 54 (3): 880886880-886.

ObjectiveTo assess key demographic and psychosocial variables that may be associated with non-adherence to clinic visits following orthopaedic trauma injuries to patients in an urban and rural population.MethodsThis retrospective review included all operative and non-operative patients presenting to a Level I academic trauma center serving an urban and rural population in the Midwest following an orthopaedic injury. The study tracked patient attendance to scheduled orthopaedic trauma follow-up clinic visits after a scheduled visit in the clinic following a trauma-related injury.ResultsData were obtained for 5816 unique orthopaedic trauma patients who had 21,066 post-treatment follow-up visits scheduled. 1627 "no-show" appointments were recorded. Factors associated with no-shows included male sex, age between 26 and 35 years, self-reported race other than white, employment listed as disabled, household income below $25,000, education less than a high school level, uninsured, Medicaid insured, and relationship status reported as single.ConclusionsIn the present study, key demographic and psychosocial factors were significantly associated with patient adherence to scheduled follow-up appointments after treatment for orthopaedic trauma. Identifying patients at higher risk for nonadherence will allow healthcare teams to educate patients, providers, and staff, link patients to resources to enhance adherence, and work with their institutions to develop and implement protocols for improving adherence to follow-up appointments.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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