84 - Missed Pediatric Well Child Visit Appointments during COVID -19 Pandemic
Friday, April 28, 2023
5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET
Poster Number: 84 Publication Number: 84.149
Pedro Cruz, Saint Barnabas Children's Center Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United States; Janine Adjo, SBH Health System, Bronx, NY, United States; Miguel Sanchez, CUNY School of Medicine, bronx, NY, United States; Tawana Winkfield-Royster, Union Community Health Center, Bronx, NY, United States; David Rubin, CUNY School of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States; Mabelly Rodriguez, Queens Childcare Network, New York, NY, United States
Pediatric Resident Saint Barnabas Children's Center Saint Barnabas Medical Center Bronx, New York, United States
Background: Missed appointments have been a long-standing problem for pediatric patients with no-show rates of 5%-55%. This causes increased medical care costs, disruption of patient-physician relationship, suboptimal health outcomes and increased emergency department visits. Prior research has identified factors associated with missed appointments in pediatric primary care clinics for sick, follow up and well child visits including failure to remember, symptoms improving or issues with transportation. To our knowledge, no study has identified the reasons for this behavior during COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: Identify factors that led to missed well child appointments at an urban community health center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/Methods: Cross-sectional study with a telephone-based questionnaire completed by parents/guardians of patients < 20 years old who missed a scheduled well child visit appointment from March 2021 to April 2022. Results: 606 subjects who missed their appointments were called, of which 209 (34.4%) completed the survey. 53.6% were female, the mean age was 8, 78% were Hispanic. Mean age of guardians was 34 ± 8 years. 82.3% of respondents were aware of the appointment and 59.8% received a reminder the day prior. The primary reasons for missed appointments were as follows: Forgot (24.4%), school reasons (17.7%), work (17.7%), personal reasons (17.7%), other reasons (23.0%) and afraid of covid (0.5%).
Conclusion(s): In a largely hispanic population, a majority of guardians were aware of an appointment and received reminders the day prior. This data suggest that families and patients missed their appointments during this period not because of fear of COVID-19. Care should be taken to adjust appointment scheduling to accommodate for school/work hours to ensure routine care.
