S1404
Interdisciplinary - Health economics & health services research
ESTRO 2026
are provided in Table 1.A conservative estimate of the institutional income loss during the analyzed period, based on national insurance reimbursement rates, was at least € 131,064.
Digital Poster 2518
Assessing the incidence and effects of missed radiotherapy appointments among gyneco- urological and breast cancer patients at a tertiary cancer center Helena Barbara Zobec Logar 1,2 , Peter Kus 3 1 Department of Radiotherapy, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3 Department of Radiotherapy, Maribor University Medical center, Maribor, Slovenia Purpose/Objective: In Slovenia’s publicly funded healthcare system, cancer treatment is primarily delivered within the public sector, which faces a high patient burden and resource constraints. Missed medical appointments, therefore, represent not only individual lapses but a systemic challenge affecting treatment efficiency and equity. This study aims to assess the incidence and reasons of missed outpatient radiotherapy appointments among gyneco-urological and breast cancer patients treated at the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana. Material/Methods: We report preliminary findings from an analysis of patients scheduled for outpatient radiotherapy appointments over a 12-month period (October 2022 to October 2023). The distribution normality of variables was assessed using the Kolmogorov– Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, means, and standard deviations, were calculated. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. The study was conducted as part of the ARIS J7-4575 project, funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency. Results: The mean age of the patients was 67.5 ± 12.7 years; 491 patients (40.6%) were men with a mean age of 73.1 ± 7.6 years, and 719 patients (59.4%) were women with a mean age of 63.7 ± 14.0 years. The most common diagnoses were breast cancer in 532 patients (44.0%; mean age 63.4 ± 14.0 years) and prostate cancer in 489 patients (40.7%; mean age 73.1 ± 7.9 years), while the remaining patients were diagnosed with gynecological cancers.A total of 1,210 of 16,315 scheduled appointments were missed during the observation period, representing 7.4% of all planned visits. On a per-patient basis, 15.6% of individuals missed at least one appointment. Most missed visits (82.9%) were follow-up appointments, whereas only 17.1% were initial consultations. The most frequently recorded reason for a missed appointment was “unknown,” indicating that rescheduling was not possible. Detailed characteristics of the study cohort
Conclusion: Missed radiotherapy appointments were observed in a notable proportion of patients, indicating a measurable burden on treatment continuity within an already strained public healthcare system. These interruptions may delay therapy completion and reduce care efficiency. Further studies would be essential for identifying underlying causes for missed appointments and for developing targeted interventions to improve adherence and optimize radiotherapy delivery. References: 1. Mazaheri Habibi MR, Abadi FM, Tabesh H, Vakili-Arki H, Abu-Hanna A, Ghaddaripouri K, Eslami S. Evaluation of no-show rate in outpatient clinics with open access scheduling system: A systematic review. Health Sci Rep. 2024;7(7): e2160.2. Crable EL, Biancarelli DL, Aurora M, Drainoni ML, Walkey AJ. Interventions to increase appointment attendance in safety net health centers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 2021;27(4):965-975. Keywords: missed appointments, radiotherapy
Poster Discussion 2524 What outcomes matter most to patients receiving radiotherapy: a scoping literature review.
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