| Literature DB >> 30630493 |
Ross McQueenie1, David A Ellis2, Alex McConnachie3, Philip Wilson4, Andrea E Williamson5.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recently, studies have examined the underlying patient and practice factors for missed appointments, but less is known about the impact on patient health. People with one or more long-term conditions who fail to attend appointments may be at risk of premature death. This is the first study to examine the effect of missed primary healthcare appointments on all-cause mortality in those with long-term mental and physical health conditions.Entities:
Keywords: Missed appointments; administrative data; health inequalities; health promotion; health utilisation; long-term conditions; morbidity; mortality; primary care; social vulnerability
Mesh:
Year: 2019 PMID: 30630493 PMCID: PMC6329132 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-018-1234-0
Source DB: PubMed Journal: BMC Med ISSN: 1741-7015 Impact factor: 8.775
Patient demographic factors for categories of long-term conditions (LTCs). Missed appointment category was defined as average annual rate of missed appointments over a 3-year period, as follows: zero, 0; low, < 1; medium, 1–2; high, > 2
| No LTCs | One to three LTC | Four plus LTC | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missed appointment category; missing values | ||||
| Zero | 226,190 | 182,682 | 30,720 | 439,592 |
| Low | 84,556 | 111,928 | 31,881 | 228,365 |
| Medium | 22,157 | 51,569 | 23,351 | 97,077 |
| High | 5819 | 29,714 | 23,807 | 59,340 |
| Age; missing values | ||||
| 0–15 | 100,880 | 25,910 | 22 | 134,732 |
| 16–30 | 95,785 | 70,320 | 2686 | 168,791 |
| 31–45 | 70,040 | 89,731 | 10,622 | 170,393 |
| 46–60 | 41,401 | 103,869 | 26,330 | 171,600 |
| 61–75 | 13,701 | 65,359 | 38,507 | 117,567 |
| 76–90 | 2225 | 18,987 | 28,070 | 49,282 |
| 90 plus | 201 | 1637 | 3521 | 5359 |
| Sex; missing values | ||||
| Male | 169,052 | 168,677 | 45,729 | 45,729 |
| Female | 169,670 | 207,216 | 64,030 | 440,916 |
| Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation; missing values | ||||
| 1 | 30,755 | 41,730 | 13,571 | 86,056 |
| 2 | 26,708 | 35,288 | 11,924 | 73,920 |
| 3 | 28,575 | 35,732 | 12,050 | 76,357 |
| 4 | 28,106 | 34,003 | 11,257 | 73,366 |
| 5 | 30,064 | 34,634 | 11,002 | 75,700 |
| 6 | 34,264 | 36,724 | 10,075 | 81,063 |
| 7 | 36,838 | 40,844 | 11,601 | 89,283 |
| 8 | 33,476 | 34,293 | 8882 | 76,651 |
| 9 | 32,405 | 34,089 | 8854 | 75,348 |
| 10 | 47,717 | 40,745 | 9086 | 97,548 |
Fig. 1a Fully adjusted negative binomial modelling of risk of missing appointments for no, one to two, and four plus long-term conditions. Model controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status (SIMD), distance between home and the practice, appointment delay, mean appointment time per patient, number of appointments per patient, rurality index, and mean practice socioeconomic status. The model is also offset for the number of appointments made. Circles represent relative risk ratios (RRRs) with 95% confidence intervals. b Fully adjusted negative binomial modelling of risk of missing appointment for physical health-related long-term conditions. Model controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status, distance between home and the practice, appointment delay, mean appointment time per patient, number of appointments per patient, rurality index, mean practice socioeconomic status, and number of mental health-related long-term conditions. c Fully adjusted negative binomial modelling of risk of missing appointment for mental health-related long-term conditions. Model controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status, distance between home and the practice, appointment delay, mean appointment time per patient, number of appointments per patient, rurality index, mean practice socioeconomic status and number of physical long-term conditions. All models are also offset for the number of appointments made. Circles represent RRRs with 95% confidence intervals
Fig. 2Cumulative incidence Kaplan–Meier plot showing proportions of deaths (all-cause mortality) over the follow-up period of 480 days. Graph shows zero, low, medium and high number of missed appointment groupings. Missed appointment categories were defined as the average annual number of missed appointments over a 3-year period, as follows: zero, 0; low, < 1; medium, 1–2; or high, > 2
Fig. 3Fully adjusted Cox’s proportional hazards showing risk of all-cause mortality for zero, low, medium and high number of missed appointment groupings. Model controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status (SIMD), distance between home and the practice, appointment delay, mean appointment time per patient, number of appointments per patient, rurality index, mean practice socioeconomic status and number of long-term conditions. Missed appointment categories were defined as the average annual number of missed appointments over a 3-year period, as follows: zero, 0; low, < 1; medium, 1–2; or high, > 2. Graph shows hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals
Fig. 4Fully adjusted Cox’s proportional hazards showing risk of all-cause mortality for zero, low, medium and high missed appointments groupings in (a) patients with any physical or mental health long-term conditions, (b) patients with any physical conditions only, (c) patients with mental health conditions only, and (d) patients with both physical and mental health conditions. Model controlled for age, sex, socioeconomic status (SIMD), distance between home and the practice, appointment delay, mean appointment time per patient, number of appointments per patient, rurality index, mean practice socioeconomic status, and number of long-term conditions. Missed appointment categories were defined as the average annual number of missed appointments over a 3-year period, as follows: zero, 0; low, < 1; medium, 1–2; or high, > 2. Graph shows hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals
Number of deaths, mean age at death and common primary causes of death for groups with no long-term conditions, only mental health-related long-term conditions, only physical long-term conditions, and both physical and mental health-related long-term conditions
| No long-term conditions | |||
| Missed appointment category | Number of deaths (% of group dead) | Mean age at death (SD) | Most common primary causes of death (%) |
| Zero | 262 (0.1%) | 68.06 (21.09) | I219 (8.4), C349 (5.7), R99 (5.7) |
| Low | 119 (0.1%) | 64.38 (21.78) | R99 (10), G309 (9.2), I259 (5) |
| Medium | 41 (0.2%) | 62.56 (23.08) | C349 (9.8), R99 (9.8), C221 (7.3) |
| High | 24 (0.4%) | 56.79 (27.14) | R99 (25), F019 (8.3), N40 (8.3) |
| Only mental health-related long-term conditions | |||
| Missed appointment category | Number of deaths (% of group dead) | Mean age at death (SD) | Most common primary causes of death |
| Zero | 69 (0.2%) | 55.72 (20) | R99 (11.6), X70 (10.1), I219 (8.7) |
| Low | 83 (0.4%) | 54.68 (18.79) | R99 (21.6), X70 (12), I219 (6) |
| Medium | 58 (0.6%) | 53.1 (20.18) | R99 (19), X42 (6.9), Y14 (6.9) |
| High | 53 (1.7%) | 49.3 (20) | R99 (32), G309 (9.4), Y14 (5.6) |
| Only physical long-term conditions | |||
| Missed appointment category | Number of deaths (% of group dead) | Mean age at death (SD) | Most common primary causes of death |
| Zero | 1399 (0.1%) | 77.12 (12.34) | C349 (8.3), I219 (7.3), I259 (3.2) |
| Low | 1361 (1.9%) | 77.46 (13.36) | I219 (7.3), C349 (6), I259 (4.2) |
| Medium | 1025 (3.2%) | 78.93 (12.54) | C349 (8.1), I219 (6.4), I259 (4.6) |
| High | 1241 (6.6%) | 79.97 (13.27) | C349 (6.1), I219 (5.8), I259 (4.2) |
| Both physical and mental health-related long-term conditions | |||
| Missed appointment category | Number of deaths (% of group dead) | Mean age at death (SD) | Most common primary causes of death |
| Zero | 1193 (2.0%) | 76.65 (13.53) | G309 (7.5), F03 (6.9), I219 (6.2) |
| Low | 1432 (2.9%) | 76.56 (13.59) | G309 (6.7), F03 (6.2), I219 (5.5) |
| Medium | 1372 (4.2%) | 75.01 (14.93) | G309 (6), F019 (5.8), I219 (5.3) |
| High | 2114 (7.0%) | 76.19 (15.29) | F019 (7.9), G309 (6.4), F03 (5.9) |
Key: I219 Acute myocardial infarction, unspecified; C349 Malignant neoplasm of unspecified part of bronchus or lung; R99 Ill-defined and unknown cause of mortality; G309 Alzheimer’s disease, unspecified; I259 Chronic ischemic heart disease, unspecified; C221 Intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma; F019 Vascular dementia, unspecified; N40 Benign prostatic hyperplasia; X70 Intentional self-harm by hanging, strangulation and suffocation; X42 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens], not elsewhere classified; Y14 Poisoning by and exposure to other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent; F03 Unspecified dementia, SD standard deviation