P071 Listening to Beyoncé: factors associated with non-attendance at an outpatient sleep clinic

INTRODUCTION: Patient non-attendance at outpatient sleep clinics is common and costly. Little is known about the factors associated with sleep clinic non-attendance, especially in an Australian context. The goal of our audit was to identify the patient, referral, and appointment factors that may affect attendance at an outpatient sleep clinic. METHODS: A case-control study was performed in 171 patients (57 cases / non-attenders and 114 controls / attenders) who had a sleep clinic appointment between September 20th, 2020 and March 21st, 2021. Statistical analysis was performed using the two-sided chi-square test with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: The overall rate of non-attendance was 10.8%. The rates of non-attendance between new and review cases were similar. Being single (odds ratio [OR]: 2.49; p = 0.010), middle-aged (OR: 4.39; p < 0.001 vs. older-aged), or female (OR: 2.08; p = 0.026) was associated with a higher rate of non-attendance. English was the primary language for all non-attenders. A higher proportion of non-attenders than attenders were born in Australia. For new cases, the source of referral, reason for referral, and triage category did not affect attendance rates. Likewise, the patient’s primary sleep disorder and treatment status did not affect attendance for review cases. CONCLUSION: Factors associated with non-attendance at an outpatient sleep clinic include being single, middle-aged, or female. By identifying patients at higher risk of clinic non-attendance, a more tailored approach can be developed to mitigate this issue.