To investigate the influencing factors of telephone follow-up response rate of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy.

Clinical data of 908 patients with HCC undergoing hepatectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2005 to December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the ethical committee approval was received. There were 718 males and 190 females with a mean age of (57±16) years. The patients were followed up by telephone interview 2 weeks after operation and the telephone responses were observed. The relations between telephone follow-up response and the gender, age, residence, education, profession, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification, tumor family history, reserved telephone type, quantity of the reserved phone number were analyzed using Chi-square test. Multiple-factor analysis was conducted using Logistic regression.

The telephone follow-up response rate was 82.5% (749/908) for HCC patients after hepatectomy. The independent influencing factors for telephone follow-up response were the reserved fixed-line phone number, reserved fixed-line and mobile phone number, quantity of the reserved phone number = 2, quantity of the reserved phone number ≥3, tumor family history (OR=1.518, 2.602, 1.626, 3.503, 2.689; P<0.05).

The independent influencing factors for the telephone follow-up response of HCC patients after hepatectomy were the reserved fixed-line phone number, reserved fixed-line and mobile phone number, quantity of the reserved phone number = 2, quantity of the reserved phone number ≥3, tumor family history.