Patient non-show to clinical appointments is a major component of nonadherence, specifically in mental health institutions, being twice that of non-show in other medical specialties, and is associated with a greater risk of morbidity and mortality.

Our study was conducted to assess the rate and factors associated with missed first appointments in an outpatient mental health clinic, in order to find correlates between the various factors and the probability of non-show among newly referred patients.

This was a retrospective study of 400 consecutive outpatients referred to a single regional mental health clinic in northern Israel during 9 months. Data was collected on sociodemographics, attendance rates, source of referral, the presence of chronic physical illnesses and time elapsed between referral to appointment. The findings were statistically analyzed to identify factors associated with patient non-show rate.

Of the 400 patients included in the study, the non-show rate was 39.6%. Patients who missed appointments were significantly more likely to be younger, to belong to the Arab sector and to wait longer for their appointment. They were less likely to be physically ill. Gender, marital status and source of referral were not significantly associated with the non-show rate.

Given the problematic potential outcome of non-show to mental health clinics, it is important to identify high-risk factors associated with non-show and unique to the population in question, so that interventions can be targeted at them, thus improving treatment outcome and reducing risk to patients.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.