Obstacles Facing Tuberculosis Treatment in Children from a Developing Country: a Hospital-based Study

Background: Despite availability of antituberculosis treatment and application of directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) strategy, loss to follow-up in tuberculosis (TB) treatment is still a problem in controlling TB, especially in TB high-burden countries. Methods: This retrospective survey study to determine the magnitude and factors influencing loss to follow-up TB treatment was conducted on 1,350 documented clinically diagnosed TB cases registered in pediatric DOTS registry from January 2009 to June 2012. We interviewed the parents of 102 identified loss to follow-up TB treatment children. Results: Of the 102 (8.2%) children identified as loss to follow-up TB treatment, five children had completed TB treatment at the nearest public health facility, concluding loss to follow-up rate 7.8%. Survey obtained showed that the most common problems encountered are financial (22.7%), time clash of working parents (16.5%), and far dwelling (16.5%). Far dwelling (p = 0.027) and drug formulations (p = 0.001) are the significant factors influencing loss to follow patients. Conclusions: Our study found that children with far dwelling to the health facility in order to take TB treatment and different drug formula are the significant factors influencing loss to follow-up patients.