Depression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: relationship with functional capacity and quality of life

In the teaching hospital, 12/50 (24%) of the questionnaires were returned, with a mean of 1 factor cited for not attending (range 0–5). The top 3 reasons reported for non-attendance were: ‘my condition improved’ (17%); ‘no improvementwith physiotherapy’ (17%); and ‘advised not to attend by another health care professional’ (17%). There were 25 mailed and 5 telephone responses to the 77 questionnaires in the community hospital (39%), with a mean of 2.1 factors cited for not attending (range 1–6). The top 3 reasons for non-attendancewere: ‘no improvementwith physiotherapy’ (27%); ‘my condition improved’ (23%); and ‘other health issues took priority (23%). Conclusion(s): The factors influencing non-attendance in three musculoskeletal outpatient services included voluntary behaviours by the patient, behaviours exhibited by other patients, service constraints, environmental factors and resolution of symptoms.Amixedmethods approach to understand the reasons for non-attendance enabled depth of data through the qualitative interviews and breadth through the surveys. Systematic collection of non-attendance data is recommended usingmixedmethods, to identify the contributing factors from the patients’ perspective. Implications: Identifying local reasons for nonattendance, directly from patients, could help in designing and implementing initiatives to reduce non-attendance in physical therapy services and enhance efficiency.