Risk Factors Associated with Loss to Follow-Up during Tuberculosis Treatment in the Sanatorium Hospital of Luanda, Angola.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a serious public health threat that affects the most vulnerable populations. Patients who are lost to follow-up (LTFU) after TB diagnosis still represent one of the biggest challenges to TB control. METHOD: In this prospective observational study, we aimed to identify and analyse the risk factors associated with LTFU among TB patients who started first-line TB treatment in the Sanatorium Hospital in Luanda. RESULT: A total of 113 patients with TB (non-multidrug resistant) were included between August 2018 and September 2019. Seventy-six (67.3%) patients were cured, 27 (23.9%) were LTFU, 5 (4.4%) died, 4 (3.5%) were transferred and 1 (0.9%) presented treatment failure. After excluding those who died, were transferred or failed treatment, we observed that severe TB at the time of diagnosis (OR 9.24, 95% CI 2.18-39.04) and food insecurity were significantly associated with LTFU (OR 5.96, 95% CI 1.66-21.41). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study can contribute to understanding the reasons for the LTFU of patients with TB and can guide policies and facilitate designing measures to allow better adherence and, therefore, greater treatment success.