THE ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE AGE GROUP HAS A HIGHER RATE OF NO-SHOW?

Introduction and Objective: Considering the attributes of primary care, no-show may suggest some difficulties in accessing the health care system. This study aims to describe the no-show rate, according to patient age groups. Methods: A retrospective study of the medical agenda of a family health team ofa primary care service of São Paulo. For data collection, three months of 2015 were randomly selected. For the analysis, age groups of specific risk population were considered, due to the format of the medical agenda in Brazil, and the no-shows of the appointments available for each age group chosen were counted. Results and Conclusions: 1070 scheduled appointments were analyzed, distributed in: 0-2 years (90), 3-15 years (93), 15-65 years (703) and over 65 years (183). The average no-show rate found was: 23.6% in the age group 0-2 years; 24.4% between 3-14 years; 17.9% between 15-65 years and 10.7% among patients over 65 years. Thus, we conclude that the greater no-show rate occurred in the age groups under 15 years, which promotes questions that go beyond the most well known factors, like being in an economically active age group. The little existing literature describes some aspects that impact on no-show, such as: kind of care and reminder by phone. However, further investigations are needed to support planning, optimization and consequently better access to population.