What are seasonal and meteorological factors are associated with the number of attendees at a sexual health service? An observational study between 2002-2012

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Open access to sexual health services may be inefficient if there are substantial unpredictable fluctuations in presentations. Our aim was to determine whether the number of presentations over the last 11 years was associated with certain factors. METHODS: This study involved all individuals presenting to Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) from 2002 to 2012. The outcome measure was the number of presentations during a clinical session (half day). RESULTS: There were 270,070 presentations to the clinic among 86,717 individuals. The factors associated with the largest difference in mean presentations per session were morning or afternoon (60 vs 51 per session), days of the week ..