[Factors associated with abandoning from the Kangaroo Mother Program between years 2019 and 2021].

Objective: The abandonment of the Kangaroo Mother Program is a public health problem that affects the health of premature infants. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with the abandonment of mothers or caregivers of premature infants in the first stage of the Kangaroo Mother Program of a Health Promoting Company (EPS) in the department of Antioquia (Colombia), between 2019 and 2021.

Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, and analytical study was carried out, where information was collected on admissions to the program (N=1,344) between 2019 and 2021. The Chi-Square likelihood ratio test was performed with crude prevalence ratio, a generalized linear model of robust variance was applied with the adjusted prevalence ratio.

Results: When adjusting for dropout with the independent variables, a higher probability of dropout was evidenced: with respect to the year 2020 (PR 2.44, 95% CI: 1.94-3.08, p-value=0.0001), marital status alone with support (PR 1.60, 95% CI: 0.84-3.04, p-value=0. 147), primary school completed or incomplete (PR 1.48, 95% CI 1.11-1.97, p-value=0.006), monthly income less than the current legal monthly minimum wage (CLMMW) (PR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.00-1.59, p-value=0.004) and area of residence living outside Medellin (PR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.06-1.46, p-value=0.006).

Conclusions: The findings of this study can be very useful to carry out interventions in families belonging to Kangaroo Programs, with the aim of intervening risk factors associated with program dropout.