exploring the reasons for parental non-attendance at the retinopathy of prematurity clinic: a qualitative study at a referral center in northeast iran

Background: missing scheduled appointments can have serious consequences for infants with retinopathy of prematurity (rop), such as retinal detachment, glaucoma, myopia, and amblyopia, leading to permanent vision loss and impacting the child’s future. additionally, non-attendance can result in clinician dissatisfaction, inefficient used of healthcare resources, and reduced quality of care. therefore, it is crucial to evaluate non-attendance rates for initial and follow-up appointments, understand contributing factors and develop interventions to improve adherence. furthermore, exploring the reasons behind parents’ non-attendance for premature infants with rop and gathering their opinions on appointment reminder systems is essential.method: this qualitative study utilized a content analysis approach at the rop clinic of the khatam eye hospital in mashhad from 2021 to 2022. the study focused on parents of premature infants with rop who had missed at least one appointment. participants were selected through purposive sampling and were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. thematic content analysis was conducted to identify the reasons for missed appointments.results: out of the 36 participants, 24 (66%) were female, with a mean age of 37 years old. reasons for non-attendance were categorized into seven main groups, including cultural, economic, geographical, parental indifference to receiving services, infrastructure and management issues, preference for private over government physicians, and other reasons, with 28 subcategories.conclusion: various key factors were identified that contributed to parents not attending the rop clinic. these factors encompass cultural, economic, and geographic considerations, lack of interest in receiving services, infrastructure challenges, and a preference for private-sector physicians over those in the public sector.