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Background Lack of adherence to appointments wastes resources and portends a poorer outcome for patients. We sought to determine if the type of scheduled endoscopic procedures affect compliance. Methods We reviewed the final endoscopy schedule from January 2010 to August 2010 in an inner city teaching hospital that serves a predominantly African American population. The final schedule only includes patients who did not cancel, reschedule or notify the facility of their inability to adhere to their care plan up to 24 hours prior to their procedures. All patients had face to face consultation with gastroenterologists or surgeons prior to scheduling. We identified patients who did not show up for their procedures. We used Poisson regression models to calculate Relative Risks (RR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI). Results Of 2,183 patients who were scheduled for outpatient endoscopy, 400 (18.3%) patients were scheduled for Esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (EGD), 1,335 (61.2%) for colonoscopy and 448 (20.5%) for both EGD and colonoscopy. The rate of non compliance was 17.5%, 22.8% and 22.1%, respectively. When compared to those scheduled for only EGD, patients scheduled for colonoscopy alone (RR = 1.47; 95%CI: 1.13-1.92) and patients scheduled for both EGD and colonoscopy (RR = 1.36; 95%CI: 1.01-1.84) were less likely to show up for their procedures. Conclusions Our study suggests a high rate of non-compliance with scheduled out-patient endoscopy, particularly for colonoscopy. Since this may be a contributing factor to colorectal cancer disparities, increased community outreach on colorectal cancer education is needed and may help to reduce non compliance.

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