Identifying Patient Factors Associated with Subspecialty Appointment Attendance Rates After Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Discharge

Eric A. Raynal, Sara Johnson, Julie Klensch, Anna Roose, Ryan Smith, Megan S. McHenry and Abbey Hines

SAGE Open, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 21582440251369332

Abstract: Our objective was to understand the rates of missed follow-up appointments following discharge from a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) over the course of 1 year. We abstracted demographic and clinical information from the medical record into a database, including appointment referrals and outcomes of those appointments. Follow-up compliance data were reviewed for one calendar year following NICU discharge for each patient. Using our definition of “lost-to-follow-up†(LTFU), of 154 neonates reviewed, 111 (72.1%) were not LTFU, while 43 (27.9%) were LTFU for at least one sub-specialty. Adjusted for co-variates, children who were LTFU had more follow-up appointments (odds ratio [OR]: 1.53 for one appointment increase, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.20, 1.99]), were more likely to be discharged with a medical device (OR: 1.00, 95% CI: [0.36, 2.77]) and were more likely to have Medicaid or no health insurance at admission (OR: 3.45, 95% CI: [1.43, 9.19]). Our study suggests that financial stability in relation to insurance type may warrant further attention for missing medically necessary follow-up services. Additionally, increased number of follow-up appointments recommended or scheduled at the time of NICU discharge puts those infants at higher risk for becoming LTFU. Overall, maximizing the use of multidisciplinary follow-up clinics to reduce the total number of clinic appointments required may increase NICU follow-up attendance.

Keywords: follow-up; NICU follow-up; preterm infant outcomes; follow-up factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:3:p:21582440251369332

DOI: 10.1177/21582440251369332

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