Demographic Characteristics Associated with Missed Follow-Up Appointments among Tuberculosis Patients at Hospital Shah Alam, Selangor: A Retrospective Study from January to June 2023

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) patients default their treatment during the treatment course. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the demographic characteristics of the patient who missed follow-ups and identify the reasons for missed appointments or defaulted their treatment. Methods: The records of patients diagnosed with TB follow-up at the chest clinic from January to June 2023 were reviewed based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted based on the data collected. Based on the study sample (n=33), the result shows that the majority of the defaulted patients were male in gender (n=22). Most of the missed appointments patients and defaulters are of Malay (39.4%) ethnicity and Malaysian nationality (66.7%). Most patients gave the transport issues as the reason for missed appointments followed by financial issues and feeling healthy. The majority of them missed follow-up in the first month after starting anti-TB. Conclusions: In conclusion, missed appointments, treatment compliance and defaulted cases in TB treatment remain as one of the main challenges in the effort to end TB epidemics. Further in-depth research is required to propose effective measures to solve this issue and improve the national TB control program.