Hepatitis patients lost to follow-up at a liver centre in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan--a cross-sectional descriptive study.

Objective: To investigate the causes for loss-to-follow-up of hepatitis patients at a liver centre of a tertiary care hospital.

Methods: A representative sample of 165 patients who were lost to follow-up during 2009 to 2010 was chosen and a cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. All hepatitis patients included were screened for antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV Ab) and hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HbsAg), and were tested through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and genotyping.