OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of default from @entity378 treatment in Hong Kong. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Data were obtained from programme forms completed by physicians in the Hong Kong Government @entity378 and Chest Service and from medical records from Hong Kong chest clinics. @entity1 : In all, 5917 @entity1 registered for antituberculous drug therapy in 1996; medical records of 5757 @entity1 were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: @entity1 who defaulted treatment were defined as those who had failed to collect medication for more than 2 consecutive months after the date of the last attendance during the course of treatment. Demographic and clinical characteristics, including history, treatment, and outcome, were compared between defaulters and @entity3257 , both among the whole group and among those with @entity358 . RESULTS: There were 442 (8%) @entity1 who defaulted from treatment. Forty-five percent of those who defaulted did so in the first 2 months of treatment. Key risk factors associated with non-compliance were a history of default, male sex, and a history of concomitant @entity409 or @entity2 . Among @entity1 with @entity1907 (381 defaulters and 1537 @entity3257 ), multiple drug resistance was also associated with default from treatment. Among defaulters with @entity358 , 39% were still bacteriologically positive at the time of default. CONCLUSION: Default from treatment may be partially responsible for the persistent high rates of @entity378 in Hong Kong in the past decade. Health professionals should ensure that all barriers to treatment be removed and that incentives be used to encourage treatment compliance.

Prevalence and predictors of default from XXXX treatment in Hong Kong.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'PATIENTS'] @entity409 :: ('MESH:D008107', 'Disease') :: ['liver disease'] @entity2 :: ('MESH:D008175', 'Disease') :: ['lung cancer'] @entity358 :: ('MESH:D008171', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary disease'] @entity378 :: ('MESH:D014376', 'Disease') :: ['Tuberculosis', 'tuberculosis'] @entity3257 :: ('MESH:C580335', 'Disease') :: ['non-defaulters'] @entity1907 :: ('MESH:D014397', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary tuberculosis']
@entity378 :: (MESH:D014376,Disease) :: ['tuberculosis']
