Drop out in a clinic of preterm development follow-up: rates and causes

To make a survey of the dropping out rate and investigate its possible causes in preterm infants follow-up program. Method: Descriptive study, using the quantitative and qualitative methodology, developed in a follow-up preterm born children ambulatory. A survey of evasions occurred from January 2009 to December 2015 was done. Parents of children who dropped out were interviewed about the reason for evasion. To compare characteristics of children groups of drop out and follow-up, t-test (continuous variables) and chi-square test (categorical variables) were used, and content analysis was used for the data obtained in the interviews. Results: The overall rate of evasion over the seven years was 43.7%, reaching 60.5% when considering only children who entered in 2009. There were significant differences between drop out and follow-up groups in relation to age and education of the mothers. The interviews enable to identify reasons for evasion related to socioeconomic factors and health service organization. Conclusion: Better service organization, establishing routines and shared goals for the whole team, can contribute to maintaining the adhesion to the follow-up program. Multidisciplinary teams of follow-up programs, such as ACRIAR should recognize the social and family challenges faced by population served, being important to maintain a constant awareness work to raise awareness of the families about the necessity of the follow-up program