Improving attendance rates in follow-up cervical cytology

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-13
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. e000195
Author(s):  
Meagan E Wiebe ◽  
Anna C Shawyer

ObjectiveCentralization of medical services in Canada has resulted in patients travelling long distances for healthcare, which may compromise their health. We hypothesized that children living farther from a children’s hospital were offered and attended fewer follow-up appointments.MethodsWe reviewed children less than 17 years of age referred to the general surgery clinic at a tertiary children’s hospital during a 2-year period who underwent surgery. Descriptive statistics were performed.ResultsWe identified 723 patients. The majority were male (61%) with a median age of 7 years (range 18 days to16 years) and were from the major urban center (MUC) (56.3%). The median distance travelled to hospital for MUC patients was 8.9 km (range 0.9–22 km) vs 119.5 km (range 20.3–1950 km) for non-MUC patients. MUC children were offered more follow-up appointments (72.7% vs 60.8%, p<0.05). No significant differences existed in follow-up attendance rates (MUC 88.5% vs non-MUC 89.1%, p=0.84) or postoperative complications (9.8% vs 9.2%, p=0.78). There were no deaths.ConclusionsPatients living farther from a hospital were offered fewer follow-up appointments, but attended an equivalent rate of follow-ups when offered one. Telemedicine and remote follow-up are underused approaches that can permit follow-up appointments while reducing associated travel time and expenses.


2011 ◽  
Vol 61 (587) ◽  
pp. e333-e339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonaidh Cotton ◽  
Linda Sharp ◽  
Claire Cochran ◽  
Nicola Gray ◽  
Maggie Cruickshank ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. S34
Author(s):  
John L. Lake ◽  
Jason C. Carvalho ◽  
Patricia Croal ◽  
Sarah G. Lunde

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siu-kuen Azor Hui ◽  
Suzanne M. Miller ◽  
Kuang-Yi Wen ◽  
Zhu Fang ◽  
Tianyu Li ◽  
...  

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