Patients lost to follow-up are eliminated from the data. Does this mean they are eliminated entirely (no risk, death, or hospital days), or are they eliminated as of the last known day of follow-up?
Patients who are lost to follow-up are eliminated entirely from the data for the year after they became lost to follow-up. Their data from past years are retained and still used in calculations. The patient continues to accrue days at risk, etc. for the year in which they become lost to follow-up because we assume that if the patient has died, we will receive a Death Notification Form and thus detect the death. However, on January 1 of the year following the year in which the patient is lost to follow-up, the patient is excluded.
Related Questions
- Patients lost to follow-up are eliminated from the data. Does this mean they are eliminated entirely (no risk, death, or hospital days), or are they eliminated as of the last known day of follow-up?
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