Characteristics of the final study population overall and stratified by attended and missed appointments (online supplemental table 2 provides additional details)
| Variable | Patients* | Scheduled appointments† | Attended N (%) | Missed N (%) |
| N=1 74 677 | N=7 69 118 | 597 229 (77.7%) | 171 889 (22.3%) | |
| Sex | p value<0.001 | |||
| Female | 97 513 (55.8) | 464 081 (60.3) | 364 842 (78.6) | 99 239 (21.4) |
| Male | 77 164 (44.2) | 305 037 (39.7) | 232 387 (76.2) | 72 650 (23.8) |
| Age category | p value<0.001 | |||
| ≤5 years old | 29 054 (16.6) | 91 155 (11.9) | 72 149 (79.1) | 19 006 (20.9) |
| 6–10 years old | 7483 (4.3) | 36 087 (4.7) | 29 660 (82.2) | 6427 (17.8) |
| 11–13 years old | 3491 (2.0) | 18 716 (2.4) | 15 038 (80.3) | 3678 (19.7) |
| 14–18 years old | 5230 (3.0) | 23 645 (3.1) | 18 144 (76.7) | 5501 (23.3) |
| 19–30 years old | 33 419 (19.1) | 132 519 (17.2) | 101 330 (76.5) | 31 189 (23.5) |
| 31–40 years old | 34 926 (20.0) | 166 942 (21.7) | 130 934 (78.4) | 36 008 (21.6) |
| 41–50 years old | 20 426 (11.7) | 101 555 (13.2) | 79 016 (77.8) | 22 539 (22.2) |
| 51–60 years old | 17 117 (9.8) | 86 887 (11.3) | 67 657 (77.9) | 19 230 (22.1) |
| 61–70 years old | 13 298 (7.6) | 66 874 (8.7) | 50 982 (76.2) | 15 892 (23.8) |
| 71–80 years old | 7929 (4.5) | 35 770 (4.7) | 26 081 (72.9) | 9689 (27.1) |
| 81–90 years old | 2054 (1.2) | 8140 (1.1) | 5691 (69.9) | 2449 (30.1) |
| >90 years old | 250 (0.1) | 828 (0.1) | 547 (66.1) | 281 (33.9) |
| Appointment day by of working week | p value<0.001 | |||
| Sunday | 36 278 (20.8) | 160 770 (20.9) | 122 683 (76.3) | 38 087 (23.7) |
| Monday | 36 572 (20.9) | 158 890 (20.7) | 123 783 (77.9) | 35 107 (22.1) |
| Tuesday | 34 127 (19.5) | 156 786 (20.4) | 123 033 (78.5) | 33 753 (21.5) |
| Wednesday | 36 957 (21.2) | 160 577 (20.9) | 123 681 (77.0) | 36 896 (23.0) |
| Thursday | 30 743 (17.6) | 132 095 (17.2) | 104 049 (78.8) | 28 046 (21.2) |
| Governorate | p value<0.001 | |||
| Muscat | 941 440 (53.9) | 422 664 (55.0) | 323 259 (76.5) | 99 405 (23.5) |
| South Batina | 2918 (1.7) | 11 210 (1.5) | 8332 (74.3) | 2878 (25.7) |
| AL Dhakiliya | 1020 (0.6) | 3905 (0.5) | 2895 (74.1) | 1010 (25.9) |
| North Batina | 2112 (1.2) | 8570 (1.1) | 6336 (73.9) | 2234 (26.1) |
| North Sharqiya | 14 454 (8.3) | 67 629 (8.8) | 55 363 (81.9) | 12 266 (18.1) |
| South Sharqiya | 14 979 (8.6) | 67 958 (8.8) | 53 852 (79.2) | 14 106 (20.8) |
| AL Dhahira | 17 221 (9.9) | 73 186 (9.5) | 58 071 (79.3) | 15 115 (20.7) |
| AL Buriami | 10 626 (6.1) | 40 237 (5.2) | 30 668 (76.2) | 9569 (23.8) |
| AL Wusta | 9152 (5.2) | 38 135 (5.0) | 29 941 (78.5) | 8194 (21.5) |
| Musandam | 7059 (4.0) | 31 826 (4.1) | 25 691 (80.7) | 6135 (19.3) |
| Dhofar | 969 (0.6) | 3711 (0.5) | 2748 (74.1) | 963 (25.9) |
| GCC countries | 27 (0.0) | 87 (0.0) | 73 (83.9) | 14 (16.1) |
| Service cost | p value<0.001 | |||
| Pay visit and registration fees | 145 542 (83.3) | 673 088 (87.5) | 522 932 (77.7) | 150 156 (22.3) |
| ‡≤2 years old | 20 641 (11.8) | 56 469 (7.3) | 43 883 (77.7) | 12 586 (22.3) |
| Pay all medical service fees | 6892 (3.9) | 24 739 (3.2) | 17 796 (71.9) | 6943 (28.1) |
| §Under social affair coverage | 1602 (0.9) | 14 822 (1.9) | 12 618 (85.1) | 2204 (14.9) |
| Appointment waiting days | p value<0.001 | |||
| ≤30 days | 67 437 (38.6) | 306 087 (39.8) | 251 365 (82.1) | 54 722 (17.9) |
| 31–60 days | 28 128 (16.1) | 117 126 (15.2) | 90 805 (77.5) | 26 321 (22.5) |
| 61–90 days | 20 856 (11.9) | 101 825 (13.2) | 78 878 (77.5) | 22 947 (22.5) |
| 91–120 days | 14 740 (8.4) | 67 543 (8.8) | 50 268 (74.4) | 17 275 (25.6) |
| >120 days | 43 516 (24.9) | 176 537 (23.0) | 125 913 (71.3) | 50 624 (28.7) |
*One appointment per patient scheduled during the 5-year period selected at random.
†All appointments scheduled during the 5-year period with multiple appointments per patient.
‡Exempted from all medical service fees.
§Exempted from all medical service fees.
GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council.