Determining factors associated with missed appointments among adults on anti-retroviral therapy in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal

The dataset underpinned a study titled "Factors associated with missed appointments among adults on anti-retroviral therapy in the uThukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A comparative descriptive study using a cross-sectional survey was conducted. Using the convenience sampling technique, 104 adults on ART (missed appointment group = 52, adherent group = 52) were recruited for the study. Data were collected using a structured and validated survey questionnaire. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies were used to summarise the results. Inferential statistics namely, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Fisher’s exact tests, were used to compare the responses between the groups.
Three (n=3) demographic, seven (n=7) patient-related and eight (n=8) health-related factors were significantly associated with missed appointments (p<0.05). The factors are gender, employment status, HIV status disclosure, stigma, discrimination or isolation, lack of adequate nutrition, side effects of ARVs, mistreatment by the clinic staff, lack of counselling regarding ARVs, use of traditional medicine, lack of transport or transport fare, unacceptable facility setting, unacceptable rendering of HIV services, lack of nutritional support, inadequately prepared clinic staff, lack of comprehensive HIV care package, staff attitudes, dissatisfaction with the quality of services and being turned back without receiving health care services

数据集支撑了一项题为"南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省uThukela地区接受抗逆转录病毒治疗（ART）成人失约相关因素研究"的课题。本研究采用横断面调查开展比较描述性研究，通过便利抽样法招募104名接受抗逆转录病毒治疗（ART）的成人（失约组=52人，依从组=52人）。研究使用结构化且经过验证的调查问卷收集数据，采用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）20版进行数据分析。描述性统计（如频率）用于总结结果，推断性统计（即卡方检验、曼-惠特尼检验和费希尔精确检验）用于比较组间应答差异。

3项（n=3）人口统计学因素、7项（n=7）患者相关因素和8项（n=8）健康相关因素与失约显著相关（p<0.05）。这些因素包括性别、就业状态、HIV状态披露、污名化/歧视/孤立、营养不足、抗逆转录病毒药物（ARVs）副作用、诊所工作人员不当对待、缺乏抗逆转录病毒药物相关咨询、使用传统药物、缺乏交通工具或交通费用、设施环境不佳、HIV服务提供质量差、缺乏营养支持、诊所工作人员准备不足、缺乏全面HIV护理包、工作人员态度、对服务质量不满以及未获得医疗服务即被拒诊。