Dropout and Its Correlates Among Children and Adolescents with Mental Illness in Ibadan, Nigeria: Implications for Policies

Abstract

<i>Background</i>: Dropout is a common clinical phenomenon among patients with mental illness and seems worse among children and adolescents living in low-income countries. Most studies on dropouts have been among adult patients living in high- and middle-income countries. <i>Methodology</i>: In this mixed method study of sequential exploratory design, a total of 113 new patients were recruited for the quantitative part while 25 participants out of those who dropped out of treatment had an in-depth telephone interview. The quantitative data was analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 23 while the qualitative data was coded into themes manually using content analysis. <i>Results</i>: Ninety-seven percent of the participants dropped out of treatment. Almost 50% of the participants who dropped out did so after their first appointments. The rate of dropout was found to increase with time. Socio-demographic characteristics had no significant association with dropout. Patients’ diagnosis type or presence of comorbidity also was not associated with dropout. However, the types of treatment received was significantly associated with dropout (p = 0.040). The commonest reason for dropout was no improvement in clinical condition. <i>Conclusion</i>: The rate of dropout among the participants in this study was very high. However, majority showed willingness to re-initiate treatment. Further studies are needed to test possible ways to reduce dropouts among this population. Implications for health policies are also discussed.