From telephone to office Intake attendance as a function of appointment delay David S. Festinger a, *, R.J. Lamb b , Douglas B. Marlowe a , Kimberly C. Kirby a a Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, 600 Public Ledger Building, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3475, USA b University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA Abstract In the present study, 116 clients calling an outpatient cocaine treatment clinic were randomly assigned to intake appointments scheduled either the same day, 1 day, 3 days, or 7 days later. Significantly more subjects scheduled 1 day later attended their intake appointments (72%), compared to those scheduled 3 days (41%) or 7 days (38%) later. Odds ratios indicate that subjects offered intake appointments approximately 24 h following their initial contact are more than four times as likely to attend their intakes as those scheduled later. This accelerated intake procedure allows clinics to reach more patients in need of services. D 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Treatment entry; Treatment initiation; Intake attendance; Appointment delay; Drug abuse 1. Introduction Over 50% of individuals who contact a clinic to schedule drug abuse treatment services do not follow through on their intake appointment (Fehr, Weinstein, Sterling, & Gottleib, 1990; Festinger, Lamb, Kountz, Kirby, & Marlowe, 1995; Stark, Campbell, & Brikerhoff, 1990). Gallant, Bishop, Stoy, Faulkner and Paternostro (1966), referring to these high rates of intake 0306-4603/02/$ – see front matter D 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII:S0306-4603(01)00172-1 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-215-399-0988 ext. 126; fax: +1-215-399-0987/0989. E-mail address: dfestinger@tresearch.com (D.S. Festinger). Addictive Behaviors 27 (2002) 131 – 137