Importance: No-show appointments, or scheduled appointments that patients do not attend without giving notice of cancellation, are a prevalent problem in the outpatient setting.
Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the proportion of patients by decades of life who "no-show" to their urogynecology appointments.
Study design: This retrospective cohort included women 20 years and older who did not show to their urogynecologic clinical encounters at an academic practice between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022. Demographics and visit history were recorded. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients by decade of age who were a "no-show" to their appointments. All decades were compared with women in their 70s, the decade with the most patients seen. Secondary outcomes included descriptive data of patients. Descriptive statistics and χ2 analyses were used.
Results: The cohort of 450 no-show encounters (composed of 391 patients), out of 6729 encounters, demonstrated an overall no-show rate of 6.7%. Baseline demographics of "no-show" patients were 67.3% White and 27.4% Black. The odds of women in their 20s-50s who no-show was 2-3 times higher than women in their 70s (P < 0.01). The highest no-show rates occurred in 20s (12.6%) and 40s (11.8%). Forty-six patients missed multiple appointments. The odds of a Black patient having multiple no-shows was 3.15 times higher than the odds of a White patient.
Conclusions: No-show rates are low in this urogynecology practice. Younger women are more likely to no-show. This knowledge can facilitate potential double bookings necessary for urgent appointments and to maximize resource utilization.
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