Temporal Trends in Nonattendence Rate for Scheduled Outpatient Appointments.

Temporal Trends in Nonattendence Rate for Scheduled Outpatient Appointments.

Ecological time-series study using secondary databases.

A time-series study will be conducted to evaluate nonattendance over time. The unit of analysis will be the appointment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Appointments scheduled for outpatient medical care across all settings and specialties from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2023

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cancelled appointments, including cancellations made by the patient, medical team, and the appointment management system.
• Appointments that do not correspond to scheduled in-person care (Teleconsultations,
• Appointments for walk-in demand).
• Scheduled appointments that are not for medical care (Health coverage or specialties that do not correspond to scheduled medical care, Appointments for procedures,
• Appointments for complementary exams, Appointments for treatments such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, or other therapies).
• Spontaneous overflow appointments where the patient spontaneously presents for care at that moment. These appointments cannot be absent as the present and the appointment are assigned simultaneously.
• System errors that do not correspond to actual patient medical care appointments (Duplicate cancellations, Appointments where patient and physician coincide).