Abstract
Non-attendance to dermatology outpatient appointments is a risk factor for poorer
patient outcomes. The culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in
Australia have been identified as at risk of poorer health outcomes, but there is
a paucity of data assessing patient factors that may increase outpatient non-attendance.
To investigate this, we performed a retrospective cross-sectional study of dermatology
appointments from patients attending a tertiary, referral public hospital located
in one of Australia's most racially and ethnically diverse communities. Patients within
the 18-45 years age bracket were 61% more likely not to attend when compared with
older age groups. Those born in Oceania, Middle East Asia, and surprisingly Australia
were more likely to miss an appointment, whilst those born in East and Southeast Asia were more likely to
attend. Those who spoke Arabic at home were more likely not to attend, whilst those
who spoke Vietnamese at home were more likely to attend. This study sheds further
light on health disparities in non-attendance and emphasizes the importance of not
collectively amalgamating all groups of the CALD community.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 31, 2021
Footnotes
Funding sources: None
Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
IRB approval status: Reviewed and approved by The South Western Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC Reference: 2019/ETH00578).
Identification
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