[Is long term medical follow up of tuberculous patients possible? (author's transl)]

Tuberculosis still remains a current disease, of difficult eradication as shown by numerous studies and epidemiological surveys. The authors studied 180 newly affected tuberculous patients admitted to Pr. Laval's department at Marseille and tried to discover why only 91 (50.6%) were still followed or could be traced 3 years after their first hospitalization. Five parameters were studied: origin, sex and age, living area, socio-economical data (change of address, lack of accomodation, profession), tobacco and alcohol addiction. No significant part was played by nationality, living area, or profession. On the other hand, changing of address, chronic tobacco and alcohol addiction were the factors responsible for loosing sight of the patients. An attempt to define this tuberculous patient, which would not be followed up for long, gave the picture of a 40 to 45 years old man, living in a hotel or with no fixed accomodation, smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day and drinking. Such a profile of a tuberculous patient should increase the watchfulness over likely ones.