Publications

COVID-19 was a quickly progressing disease but unfortunately, currently, scientistshave not discovered potential therapeutic agents which are effective; which leavespreventive measures such as screening to be the most effective means of curbing thespread of COVID-19. The study aimed at determining the prevalence and identifyingthe factors affecting COVID-19 screening among patients attending OPD Services atLira regional referral hospital, Lira District northern Uganda so as to developmechanisms to ensure that screening for COVID-19 is scaled up. A cross-sectionalhealth facility-based study was conducted among 384 patients attending OPD of LiraRegional Referral Hospital. A simple random sampling technique was used to includethe participants. Pre-tested and structured questionnaires were used to collect therequired data. To determine factors associated with COVID-19 screening, univariateanalysis and modified Poisson regression were run and crude prevalence ratios with95% confidence interval were used to determine the level of significance at bivariatemeanwhile adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated at multivariate analysis toestablish independent significant factors. The prevalence of COVID-19 screening was64.06% (246/384) with a 95% confidence interval of 59.24 -68.88. The factorsindependently associated with COVID-19 screening were; Education level; Primary (Apr1.31, 95%CI 1.02-1.69, P=0.035), secondary; (Apr 1.31, 95%CI 1.00-1.71, P=0.047),Tertiary; (Apr 1.38, 95%CI 1.05-1.80, P=0.019). Perceived Understaffing in this hospital(Apr 1.31, 95%CI 1.02-1.69, P=0.035) and Community COVID-19 Outreaches (Apr 1.28,95%CI 1.14-1.44, P<0.001). The study has shown that the prevalence of COVID-19screening was 64.06%, which means that 35.94% of patients who visited OPD duringthe study period were not screened for COVID-19. Education level, PerceivedUnderstaffing and Community COVID-19 Outreaches were independently associatedwith COVID-19 Screening among OPD patients at Lira Regional Referral Hospital.