No-Shows At a Community Mental Health Clinic: a Pilot Study

Potential patients who do not show up for their first appointments at a mental health clinic represent a puzzling and important phenomenon. When the setting, as in this study, is a multi-ethnic community, the psychosocial determinants for such behaviour are complex indeed. The author presents preliminary data relating clinic no-show rate to the variables of age, sex, presenting problem, and referral source. From the patterns which emerge from the data, certain possible explanations and tentative hypotheses are discussed in relation to previous reports in the literature. Some practical, clinical implications of these findings are considered. The results of this pilot project indicate some directions for future investigation in this area.