ArticleBMC health services research2023
A scoping review on the factors associated with the lost to follow-up (LTFU) amongst patients with chronic disease in ambulatory care of high-income countries (HIC).
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Psychotic Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2025Pooled it
- The Cirrhosis Medical Home: A Pilot Randomized Trial of a Collaborative Care Model for Patients With Decompensated Cirrhosis.Clinical and translational gastroenterology · 2026Trial
- Building a Robust Investigator-Initiated Platform: The I-CARE Experience.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2026Observational
- Observational
- Factors associated with lost to follow-up (LTFU) among patients with hypertension: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Feasibility of transition research in pituitary disease using patient registries: a EuRREB secondary survey.Endocrine connections · 2025Article
- Transfer to Adult Care in Epilepsy: A Nationwide Population-Based Register Study.Neurology. Clinical practice · 2025Article
- Improving Clinical Management and Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in China via Real-world Evidence (IMPROVE Study): A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.Advances in therapy · 2025Article
- Factors impacting chronic disease medication adherence in the UAE: a prospective cohort study, 2021-2022.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2025Article
- Parental Reports on Late Effects and Follow-Up Needs: A Single-Center Assessment of Childhood Cancer Survivorship Care in Kenya.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Article
- Arnold-Chiari malformation is associated with increased likelihood of a procedure in idiopathic intracranial hypertension.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2025Article
- A mixed methods exploratory study assessing youth knowledge, self-efficacy and mental health outcomes in transition to adult healthcare.Health care transitions · 2025Article
- Patients at Greatest Risk of Missing Initial 1-Year Follow-Up After Pituitary Adenoma Resection.World neurosurgery · 2024Article
- Article
- Non-adherence to follow-up care in persons with spinal cord injury within 10 years after initial rehabilitation.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2024Article
- European Achondroplasia Forum Practical Considerations for Following Adults with Achondroplasia.Advances in therapy · 2024Article
- Observational
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the importance of long term follow-up care for patients with chronic disease, many patients fail to adhere to their follow-ups, which increase their risk of further health complications. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to find out the factors associated with lost to follow-up (LTFU) amongst patients with chronic disease in the ambulatory care setting of high-income countries (HICs) to gain insights for better quality of care. Understanding the definition of LTFU is imperative in informing patients, health professionals and researchers for clinical and research purposes. This review also provided an overview of the terms and definitions used to describe LTFU.
methodsThe following databases: CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched for studies investigating the factors associated to LTFU from the date of inception until 07 January 2022.
resultsFive thousand one hundred and seven records were obtained across the databases and 3,416 articles were screened after removing the duplicates. 25 articles met the inclusion criteria, of which 17 were cohort studies, five were cross-sectional studies and three were case-control studies. A total of 32 factors were found to be associated with LTFU and they were categorised into patient factors, clinical factors and healthcare provider factors.
conclusionOverall, the factors associated with LTFU were generally inconsistent across studies. However, some factors such as financial factors (i.e., no insurance coverage) and low accessibility of care were consistently associated with LTFU for both mental and physical chronic conditions. The operational definitions of LTFU also varied greatly across studies. Given the mixed findings, future research using qualitative aproaches would be pivotal in understanding LTFU for specific chronic diseases and the development of targeted interventions. Additionally, there is a need to standardise the operational definition of LTFU for research as well as clinical practice purposes.
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