Pre-Treatment Loss to Follow-up of Patients with Bacilloscopy-Confirmed Pulmonary Tuberculosis in the National Center for the Fight Against Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in Niamey

Context: Pre-treatment loss of follow-up (PTLFU) represents a major problem that hinders the management of tuberculosis. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of lost to follow-up patients diagnosed with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (SPPT) and referred to other TB screening and treatment centers (TBSTC). Method: This was a prospective, descriptive and analytical study conducted over a six month between March and August 2019, in patients diagnosed with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis at NCFATRD and referred to Niamey and Tillaberi centers. The chi-square text was used with a significance level of P ≤ 0.05. Results: 743 patients were diagnosed with SPPT, and 346 were referred to the TBSTC located in Niamey and Tillaberi cities. The prevalence of loss of follow-up before treatment in both Niamey and Tillaberi cities was 14.45% (50/343). Male represented 82% (41) of the cases with a sex ratio of 4.55. The mean age of our patients was 41.04 years. Patients not attending school and those with primary education represented the majority with 30% each. The majority of PTLFU (95.66%) were new cases of TB. Nearly half (42%) of PTLFU had traveled a distance of 6 to 15 km to get the TB screening. During the phone call follow up, we were able to reach only 12 patients (24%) of which 7 (14%) were deceased. Conclusion : the prevalence of PTLFU is high, therefore there is a need to reinforce the research of lost to follow up patients in order to improve tuberculosis control and management.