Do Illness Perceptions Predict the Attendance Rate at Diabetic Outpatient Clinic?

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of non-attendance and to investigate the influence of illness perceptions on attendance at diabetic outpatient clinics. Research method and design: This is a descriptive study of 442 participants who were enrolled in a Diabetic Outpatient Clinic at Lerdsin Hospital, Thailand. Illness perceptions were derived from a Thai version of the IPQ-R questionnaire consisting of the same 3 sections as the original Illness perception- Revised with the distinction that it had 68 items. Test for validity was performed and the Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient value was 0.87. Data were analysed by using independent t-tests. Binary logistic regression was used in order to assess the impact of illness perception scores on attendance among diabetic patients at the Outpatient Clinic.