Barriers to Attending Eye Appointments among Underserved Adults

449 Dear Editor, Uninsured people have considerably less access to eye doctors and treatments for eye diseases. In a partnership between the Hope Clinic, a non‐profit medical clinic for uninsured individuals, and the University of Michigan’s ophthalmology department, free comprehensive ophthalmic examinations are offered once every two months on a Saturday. We conducted a study on the population that availed this facility in the past[1] and, after three years, we were concerned about the rate of clinic non‐attendance. We conducted a study on the barriers facing those adults who failed to keep their appointments at the University despite multiple reminders. The study adhered to the Tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. The approval from the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board was obtained. We then identified the adults missing at least one eye appointment over a 20‐month period. We attempted to contact these patients three times using their available telephone number to participate in the study. Interviews were conducted using a semi‐structured interview guide, which included questions on the reason for the visit, barriers to their attendance, and plans for re‐scheduling appointments. The clinic non‐attendance rate was 23.4%. Of the 80 unique patients, 52.5% were unreachable and 18.8% did not wish to participate. Twenty‐three patients were interviewed of whom 43.5% were female and the mean age of the group was 53.9 years. They missed Barriers to Attending Eye Appointments among Underserved Adults