WHERE ARE THE PATIENTS? – MISSED MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS AND PREFERRED REMINDERS AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS
Studies have shown that young adults tend to miss medical appointments. This study seeks to identify ways to reduce the number of missed appointments in this population. This study explores the appointment keeping habits of college students and determines appointment reminder preferences. Five hundred seventy-six students completed an online survey. Students reported that email and phone reminders are most preferred and that text message reminders are the least preferred. Two statistically significant relationships were identified between variables – number of missed appointments and reminder preference for problem-focused, primary care visits, and number of missed appointments and reminder preference for routine dental visits. The relationship between age and number of missed appointments was not found to be significant. The University’s Campus Health Service should continue to use email reminders, and should also use a variety of reminder methods to target different groups of individuals for different types of appointments.
Advisor:Dr. Deborah Barreau
School:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School Location:USA - North Carolina
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Date of Publication:03/25/2008