Predictors of missed appointments in prospective hand surgery research.

Abstract

Missed research appointments may bias the outcome of prospective clinical trials if the participants that miss appointments differ in important ways from those that do not. The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors of missed research appointments in patients enrolled in clinical trials. We retrospectively evaluated 665 participants enrolled in ten prospective clinical trials conducted at our outpatient office between 2001 and 2010. Demographic data (sex, race, date of birth, date of enrollment, age at enrollment, educational level, and work status), study coordinator, and study type were analyzed for association with missed a research appointment in bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. One hundred and forty-four (21.7 %) participants missed research appointments during their follow-up. There were no statistical differences between those who missed appointments and those who did not, regarding sex, race, and age at enrollment. Educational level and work status were independent predictors of missed appointments. This study suggests that educational level and work status are predictors of missed appointments in prospective clinical research.