An analysis of the tracking systems used for patients with Tuberculosis in Limpopo Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the tracking systems used to identify patients with tuberculosis who missed a clinic appointment at primary health care facilities in Waterberg District. A quantitative descriptive correlation design was used to determine if there was an association between the tracking systems used and the defaulter rates. Data was collected using a questionnaire with nurses from 46 primary health care facilities, defaulter rates were accessed from the ETR.Net and the two sets of data were correlated. The results showed that the blue folder yielded the lowest mean defaulter rate while the green card yielded the highest mean defaulter rate. Nurses were unaware of the true defaulter rate in their facilities as they underestimated these rates. They therefore did not implement relevant intervention strategies to recall patients or find ways to improve the tracking systems used to reduce the defaulter rate in their health facilities.