Why patients fail to attend psychiatric outpatient follow-up: a pilot study

Patients who failed to attend psychiatric outpatient follow-up were compared with a group of comprising regular attenders. There were 71 defaulters out of 1,664 appointments given during the study period. Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis. The defaulters did not differ from the controls in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, occupational or marital status. The unemployed were not more likely to be regular, instead, the better educated, shorter intervals between appointments and those given morning appointments were. Those solely on oral medication were more likely to default. The largest proportion gave reasons of work commitments and of not being free to attend; others claimed they had forgotten their appointments or had lost their appointment cards. Patients who said they did not come because they felt well or still had medication were cause for concern because of possible lack of insight and non-compliance with their medication.