Factors Affecting Continuous Follow-up Treatments among Patients Infected with Syphilis at Phramongkutklao Hospital
Keywords:
Syphilis, Continuous follow-upAbstract
Background: In Thailand, there is an increasing rate of syphilis infection and a recent study found that a significant factor of treatment failure and re-infection was due to a loss of follow-up. Therefore, continuous follow-up is crucial for a successful treatment and to control the disease.
Objective: To study factors affecting continuous follow-up treatments among patients infected with syphilis at Phramongkutklao Hospital.
Materials and Method: This is a retrospective cohort study of 111 patients diagnosed with syphilis at Phramongkutklao Hospital from 1 January 2012 – 30 April 2022. The results of demographic data, clinical presentations, serology (VDRL, TPHA), sexual behaviour, treatments and follow-up plans are included.
Results: From the study, factors significantly affecting continuous follow-up treatments included occupations, domiciles, and presenting conditions. Regarding the domicile factor, patients in the Central part were ten times more likely to continue the follow-up treatments than those in the Southern region (P = 0.045). In comparison to patients who got health check-up or donated blood, patients who firstly diagnosed during antenatal care and those with the presence of neurological symptoms were seven times (P = 0.004) and ten times (P = 0.048) more likely to have continuous follow-up, respectively. In addition, the frequency of patients with other occupations was three times more than soldiers and polices (P = 0.018). Interestingly, among patients who continued their follow-up treatments, most medical professionals failed to complete syphilis treatment follow-up guideline.
Conclusion: From this study, potential factors affecting continuous follow-up treatments among patients infected with syphilis included occupation, presenting clinical symptoms, and domiciles. Therefore, these factors should be taken into consideration for the treatment and follow-up plans for patients infected with syphilis.
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