Social Determinants of Health and No-Show Clinic Appointments in Children with 22q11.2-Related Disorders.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-2026

Identifier

DOI: 10.1177/10556656251327819

Abstract

Objective Children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) present with complex medical challenges and often are followed by multiple specialists. Healthcare for these patients may be influenced by demographic and socioeconomic factors. This study's aim is to identify factors correlated with no-show clinic visits for these children.

Design Retrospective cohort study

Setting Tertiary care hospital

Participants Pediatric patients with a diagnosis of 22q11.2DS. Patients without appointment attendance or socioeconomic data were excluded.

Interventions None

Main Outcomes and Measures To identify potential healthcare disparities, the patient's home address was cross-referenced with the GeoMarker database to define socioeconomic variables. We analyzed the rate of no-show clinic appointments to identify associations with socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic factors.

Results Of the 198 patients with 22q11.2DS were included in this study. These patients were scheduled for 2049 visits with the 22q11.2 multidisciplinary clinic (22qMDC) and 8708 additional clinic visits within the institution. The median 22qMDC no-show rate was 0% [interquartile range-IQR: 0, 9.78] and 4.35% [IQR: 0, 15.00] for other clinic appointments. Socioeconomic factors associated with clinic no-show included Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, lower median household income, lower fraction of population with high school diploma, higher fraction of population below the poverty line, and higher fraction of population that required assisted income.

Conclusions These findings highlight potential influences of socioeconomic factors on no-show clinic appointments in children with 22q11.2DS. These factors can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at improving clinic attendance and ultimately elevating patient outcomes.

Journal Title

The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association

Volume

63

Issue

5

First Page

1077

Last Page

1084

MeSH Keywords

Humans; Female; Male; Child; Social Determinants of Health; Appointments and Schedules; DiGeorge Syndrome; No-Show Patients; Socioeconomic Factors; Child, Preschool; Adolescent; Cohort Studies; Healthcare Disparities

PubMed ID

40095972

Keywords

genes; genetics; pediatrics; social support; syndrome; velocardiofacial syndrome

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