Objective: to describe abandonment rates according to sociodemographic, clinical and epidemiological characteristics of new tuberculosis cases being treated in Pernambuco State, Brazil.
Methods: this is a descriptive ecological study using data from the Information System for Notifiable Diseases from 2001 to 2014; the abandonment rate was calculated by the Regional Administration on Health (GERES).
Results: of the 57,015 new cases, 6,474 (11.3%) abandoned treatment, although abandonment decreased from 16.4% (2001) to 9.3% (2014); the abandonment rate in GERES I Recife, III Palmares, IV Caruaru, VIII Petrolina and IX Ouricuri was still >5% in 2014; the rate was higher in males (11.9%), people aged 20-39 (12.7%), people with incomplete elementary school (12.1%), black-skinned people (13.7%), institutionalized people (12.5%) and those with pulmonary + extrapulmonary tuberculosis (14.1%).
Conclusion: despite the decrease, the abandonment rate remained high; males, adults with low education level, black-skinned people, institutionalized patients and patients with pulmonary + extrapulmonary tuberculosis seemed more prone to abandoning treatment.