An exploration into why females do not attend their ultrasound pelvis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploration into why females do not attend their ultrasound pelvis examination
IRAS ID
326333
Contact name
Cushitah Ruddock
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
This research study will focus on female patients who have been referred for a pelvis ultrasound examination, from either their GP or hospital doctor, and will explore the reasons why they do not attend their pelvic ultrasound appointment.
Missed hospital appointments increase waiting times and cost the NHS millions of pounds annually. Additionally, it can result in a patient's diagnosis and treatment being delayed (NHS, 2022). There have been many studies, undertaken with the aim to identify, who is unlikely to attend their appointment (Public Health Scotland, 2020), reasons for nonattendance (Murphy and Taaffe, 2019 and Collins, Santamaria and Clayton, 2003), and reducing missed appointments, although there are currently no studies that identifies the reason why females do not attend their ultrasound pelvis appointment. There may be several reasons why a patient might not be able to attend their appointment, such as no childcare, unable to get the time of work, anxiety about the procedure, though these reasons cannot be assumed, that these are the said reasons why females do not attend their ultrasound pelvis appointment, until research findings, support, or suggest otherwise. Therefore, this study is being carried out to determine the reasons why females fail to attend their ultrasound pelvis appointment; only then can improvements be made to facilitate patients and their needs.
In the UK, a standard pelvic exam includes a trans-abdominal scan (TA- a scan on the surface of the pelvis region) and an optional trans-vaginal (TV- internal vaginal scan) scan. Although a TV scan will not be offered to females with an intact hymen and is not suitable for females under 16 years old. For females who are applicable for the TV scan, it is their decision whether they choose to have the trans-vaginal scan or not. A TV scan is considered more superior offering better pictures of the uterus and ovaries, compared to a pelvis transabdominal (TA) scan. However, a TV scan is viewed as an intimate examination because the ultrasound probe must be inserted internally into the vagina (BMUS, 2020).The target population for this study are female’s patient over 18 who have been referred for an ultrasound pelvis appointment, but fail to attend. The participants will take part in an interview to identify the reasons why they did not attend their ultrasound pelvic appointment. This research is a single centre study based at a teaching hospital within the West Midlands, and will be a primary qualitative study taking approximately 12 months to complete.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NW/0159
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jun 2023
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion