An investigation into the factors which influence attendance rates for psychology appointments in an adult intellectual disability service

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether factors previously shown to influence attendance rates for appointments in general practice and general mental health services also influence attendance rates in services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Design/methodology/approach Post hoc data from 452 psychology appointments, ID diagnostic and initial screening (triage) appointments were collected from the health-care files of a community adult ID psychology service. Demographic factors (age, sex) and clinical factors (waiting time, time between appointment invitation being sent and appointment being held, presence of prior telephone call or letter, type of appointment, weekday, month) were recorded along with the attendance outcome (attended/did not attend [DNA]). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was also explored by documenting whether the appointment predated March 2020. Findings No significant associations were found between any variable investigated and attendance outcome when analysing appointment data as a whole and when splitting the data between appointment type. Weekday was found to significantly be associated with attendance outcome for appointments held during COVID-19, in which more DNA appointments occurred on a Wednesday compared to the other days of the week. No other associations were found for appointments held during the COVID-19 pandemic or for appointments held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results suggest that factors which influence attendance rates in general health-care settings do not necessarily generalise to ID services. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine whether certain demographic and clinical factors influenced attendance rates in an adult intellectual disability service.