Researchers also looked at the otolaryngology subspecialties to see which had the highest rate of no-shows. Rhinology had the highest rate, at just over 30% no-shows, followed by pediatrics, with just under 30%.
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May 2024“We thought pediatrics would have been the highest to no-show, just because they have a lot more factors influencing their arrival to surgery, such as relying on caregivers to bring them and also having a higher rate of being sick, and just having more reasons to not show up,” Linquest said. “But rhinology came out on top.”
Those subspecialities were followed by otology at just over 25%, head and neck at just under 25%, general otolaryngology at about 17%, laryngology at just under 15%, and facial plastic surgery around 14%.
“Failure to attend preoperative appointments [is] the most important standout piece of information and something that, possibly, we could intervene on,” Linquest said. “Maybe we need to be calling these patients if they don’t show up to their preoperative appointments and see if they even are planning to come to the surgery. Maybe we need to have more online telehealth visits to increase patient adherence to appointments. And, finally, elective surgery, and possibly even rhinology surgery, [is a] risk factor for no-shows.”
Thomas R. Collins is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.