Palliative medicine outpatient clinic ‘no-shows’ : retrospective review

Article indépendant

CASTRO, Mirza Jacqueline Alcalde | POPE, Ashley | ZHANG, Yuhua | AL-AWAMER, Ahmed | BANERJEE, Subrata | LAU, Jenny | MAK, Ernie | O'CONNOR, Brenda | SALTMAN, Alexandra | WENTLANDT, Kirsten | ZIMMERMANN, Camilla | HANNON, Breffni

Objectives: Patients who do not attend outpatient palliative care clinic appointments ('no-shows') may have unmet needs and can impact wait times. We aimed to describe the characteristics and outcomes associated with no-shows. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed new no-show referrals to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Oncology Palliative Care Clinic (OPCC) in Toronto, Canada, between January 2017 and December 2018, compared with a random selection of patients who attended their first appointment, in a 1:2 ratio. We collected patient information, symptoms, performance status (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and outcomes. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify significant factors. Results: Compared with those who attended (n=214), no-shows (n=103), on multivariable analysis, were at higher odds than those who attended of being younger (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.00, p=0.019), living outside Toronto (OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.54 to 4.62, p<0.001) and having ECOG =2 (OR 2.98, 95% CI 1.41 to 6.29, p=0.004). No-shows had a shorter median survival compared with those who attended their first appointment (2.3 vs 8.7 months, p<0.001). Conclusion: Compared with patients who attended, no-shows lived further from the OPCC, were younger, and had a poorer ECOG. Strategies such as virtual visits should be explored to reduce no-shows and enable attendance at OPCCs.attendance at OPCCs.

https://spcare.bmj.com/content/early/2021/11/02/bmjspcare-2021-003414

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