Is it new year resolutions time again? Researchers from Norway report that patients who were scheduled for colonoscopies around the December-January holiday season were one and a half times more likely to keep their appointments. Similarly, patients who were given medical appointments in the weeks immediately subsequent to their birthdays had higher attendance rates. The researchers believe that reminders of aging triggered by annual milestones may be the underlying mechanism for the increased compliance. This certainly sounds logical. Screening programs – and physicians at large – should keep this in mind as a cost-effective way of improving patient compliance.
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Tags: age, appointments, birthday, colonoscopy, compliance, holidays
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.