Factors of absenteeism in first consultation in an oncology outpatient clinic in a University Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: absenteeism of health system users is a major problem for organizations. The study aimed to identify the factors of absenteeism in outpatients at the General Hospital of the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto oncology clinics. Methodology: patients who did not attend the first appointment in 2013 (356) were contacted by telephone, of which 299 were not able to contact because they presented an invalid telephone number, disconnected, outside the coverage area or because they did not answer the call. Results: 57 patients were interviewed and indicated reasons for no show. The answers were categorized. The results showed that 27 patients (47%) did not attend the appointment for reasons related to the individual or behavior, the cause “I had an appointment elsewhere” was the most recurrent (12.30%), followed by “the appointment happened at the same time of another commitment” (7.02%) and “I cannot remember the reason” (7.02%). Individually, the most cited reason by the patients was “I did not miss the appointment” 18 (31.6%), thus suggesting communication problems. Conclusion: the main reasons for absenteeism are related to the individual and problems of patient registration and communication make it difficult to understand the causes of absenteeism.