If you miss a study visit

Missing a visit is common and is almost never the disaster people fear. Here is what actually happens and what to do about it.

Tell the team as soon as you know

A visit you warn them about is a scheduling problem. A visit you miss silently is a gap in the record that someone has to explain later. Even a message the same morning is worth sending.

Most visits have a window, not a date

Many study visits are scheduled with an allowed range around them, often a few days either side. Your team knows what yours is. Asking is how you find out whether a change is easy or genuinely difficult.

You are not in trouble

A missed visit is recorded as a protocol deviation, which sounds far more serious than it is. It is a note about the study, not a judgement about you, and the team files these routinely.

When it matters more

Some visits are harder to move than others, usually where a measurement has to happen at a particular point or where study medication runs out. Your team can tell you which of yours are which, and it is a reasonable thing to ask at the start.