The Reasons for Refusal and Abandonment of Care at Sikasso Hospital

Introduction: Refusal and abandonment of care have become recurrent phenomena in our health services and several factors are believed to be at the root of this. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the reasons for refusal and abandonment of community care at Sikasso hospital. Methodology: This was a prospective descriptive study using a questionnaire to collect data. The study took place from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. It covered all patients hospitalized at Sikasso hospital in the four major departments during the study period. Results: 3631 hospitalizations carried out in the 4 departments and 351 cases of abandonments and escapes, i.e. a frequency of 9.61%. The age group [0-5] was in the majority, i.e. 68.4%, the male gender was the most represented, i.e. 55.3%. About half of our patients came from the circle of Sikasso, large majorities of patients were unschooled 84.9%, and they were dominated by the senoufos 55%. The pediatric department had the largest number of cases (286); the reasons for refusal and dropouts were by far the lack of economic means (93.4%). Conclusion: This study allowed us to confirm that the refusal and abandonment of patient care represents a frequent phenomenon in our hospital structures; the effective implementation of the Universal Health Insurance scheme (RAMU) and an affordable pricing system in health centers, which could reduce cases of abandonment.