The authors studied 1,106 consecutive patients who called for an initial
outpatient appointment at a medical center department of psychiatry during
a one-year period. The 759 (68.6%) patients who kept their initial
scheduled appointment differed from the 347 (31.4%) who did not in age,
previous psychiatric treatment, source of referral, chief complaint, and
number of days they waited for an appointment. A telephone follow-up
conducted with almost 30% of those who did not keep their initial
appointment revealed that of those contacted, 26 (25%) sought other routes
for psychiatric help and 23 (22%) made a subsequent contact at the facility
studied.Abstract Teaser