Loss to follow-up tuberculosis treatment and associated factors among adults attending at public health facilities in Warder District, Somali Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia
Mohammed Birhane, Shambel Mekonnen, Tariku Dingeta, Zelalem Teklemariam
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis is a major public health problem worldwide, particularly in resource-limited countries. Loss of follow-up during treatment is one of the major obstacles in the fight against tuberculosis, which has serious implications for patients, their families, communities, and health service providers. Purpose: To assess the magnitude of the loss to follow-up tuberculosis treatment and associated factors among adults attending public health facilities in Warder District, Somali Regional State, eastern Ethiopia from November 02-17, 2021. Methods: < 0.05 in the multivariate logistic regression analysis were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 98 (16.6%) TB patients failed to follow up with their treatment. Age between 55 and 64 years (AOR = 4.4, 95% CI: 1.9-9.9), being male (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.1-2.9), living more than 10 km away from a public health facility (AOR = 4.9, 95% CI:2.5-9.4), and having a history of tuberculosis treatment (AOR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2-4.4) were associated with a higher likelihood of not following up, while having a positive initial smear result (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24-0.96) was associated with a lower probability of not following up. Conclusion: One out of six patients was lost to follow-up after initiating their tuberculosis treatment. Hence, improving the accessibility of public health facilities with a special focus on older adults, male patients, smear-negative patients, and retreatment cases is highly warranted among TB patients.