Department of Internal Medicine, Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia.
Ann Thorac Med. 2012 Jan;7(1):12-5. doi: 10.4103/1817-1737.91556.
This study was carried out to determine the prevalence, patient's characteristic and reasons for defaulting follow-up and treatment among patients with lung cancer.
Patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer were recruited. Patient's detailed demographic data, occupation, socioeconomic status, and educational level of both the patients and their children were recorded. Defaulters were classified as either intermittent or persistent defaulters. By using Chi-square test, defaulter status was compared with various demographic and disease characteristic factors. The reasons for default were determined.
Ninety five patients were recruited. Among them, 81.1% patients were males; 66.3% were Malays. The mean age (SD) was 60 ± 10.5 years. About 46.3% of the patients had Eastern Cooperation Oncology Group (ECOG) functional status 0/1 and 96.8% of the patients presented with advanced stage (Stage 3b or 4). Overall, 20 patients (21.1%) were defaulters (35.0% intermittent defaulters; 65.0% persistent defaulters). Among the intermittent defaulters, 8 patients defaulted once and one patient defaulted 3 times. Among the 20 defaulters, only 2 (10%) patients turned up for the second follow-up appointment after telephone reminder. Two main reasons for default were 'too ill to come' (38.5.5%) and logistic difficulties (23.1%). No correlation was found between patient education, children education, income, ECOG status, stage of the disease, race, and gender with the defaulter rate.
Defaulter rate among lung cancer patients was 21.1%. Children education level is the only significant factor associated with the defaulter rate.
本研究旨在确定肺癌患者的随访和治疗失访率及其患者特征和原因。
入组经组织学证实的肺癌患者。记录患者详细的人口统计学数据、职业、社会经济地位以及患者及其子女的教育水平。将失访者分为间歇性失访者或持续性失访者。通过卡方检验，将失访状态与各种人口统计学和疾病特征因素进行比较。确定失访的原因。
共招募了 95 名患者。其中，81.1%为男性；66.3%为马来人。平均年龄（标准差）为 60±10.5 岁。约 46.3%的患者功能状态为 Eastern Cooperation Oncology Group（ECOG）0/1，96.8%的患者为晚期（3b 期或 4 期）。总体而言，20 名患者（21.1%）为失访者（35.0%为间歇性失访者；65.0%为持续性失访者）。在间歇性失访者中，8 名患者仅失访 1 次，1 名患者失访 3 次。在 20 名失访者中，仅有 2 名（10%）患者在电话提醒后再次预约第二次随访。失访的两个主要原因是“病得太重无法前来”（38.5%）和后勤困难（23.1%）。患者教育、子女教育、收入、ECOG 状态、疾病分期、种族和性别与失访率之间没有相关性。
肺癌患者的失访率为 21.1%。子女的教育水平是唯一与失访率相关的显著因素。
