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Introduction: Despite advancements in Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), people living with HIV (PLHIV) face increasing risks of HTN, leading to significant morbidity and premature mortality, undermining the hard-earned gains of fighting HIV. The prevalence of hypertension among HIV patients and associated risk factors has not been extensively studied in the rural parts of Uganda. Objective: We assessed the prevalence, awareness, and factors associated with hypertension among PLHIV at two health facilities in Eastern Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital and Bugobero Health Center IV HIV clinics from May to July 2023. We recruited patients with HIV above the age of 18 years and willing to consent. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire adapted from the WHO STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS) and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. Anthropometric measurements and blood pressure were taken. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were performed. A P value <0.2 in the bivariate analysis was transferred to the multivariable logistic regression model. A P value < 0.05 was statistically significant. Results: The study surveyed 400 PLHIV with a mean age of 46.5 (SD: 12.4) years; most were female (n=261, 65.3%). Hypertension prevalence was at 37.5%, with 20.5% in stage 2 and 68% ((n=102) of hypertensive participants were unaware. Hypertension was associated with age ≥50 years (aOR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.33-3.37, p = 0.002), a suppressed viral load (aOR: 3.71, 95% CI: 1.02-5.13, p = 0.046) and BMI ≥25 Kg/m2 (aOR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.01-2.66, p = 0.044). Conclusion: Hypertension is a significant burden among PLHIV in Eastern Uganda, influenced by HIV and lifestyle-related risk factors. Improved screening and diagnosis are needed with close monitoring for patients with viral load suppression due to the possible negative effects of ART on blood pressure.

This study explored the prevalence, awareness, and risk factors linked to high blood pressure among people living with HIV (PLHIV) at two health facilities in Eastern Uganda. We found that 37.5% of the participants had high blood pressure, yet the majority (68%) were unaware of their condition. We identified older age ≥50 years, a higher body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m², and having a suppressed viral load as significant risk factors for high blood pressure among PLHIV. These results reveal the urgent need for improved health strategies that integrate the management of HIV and hypertension and preventive care to enhance the overall health outcomes for PLHIV in rural areas.

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BACKGROUND: Proper and complete clerkships for patients have long been shown to contribute to correct diagnosis and improved patient care. All sections for clerkship must be carefully and fully completed to guide the diagnosis and the plan of management; moreover, one section guides the next. Failure to perform a complete clerkship has been shown to lead to misdiagnosis due to its unpleasant outcomes, such as delayed recovery, prolonged inpatient stay, high cost of care and, at worst, death. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to determine the gap in clerkship, the impact of incomplete clerkship on the length of hospital stay, to explore the causes of the gap in clerkship of the patients and the strategies which can be used to improve clerkship of the patients admitted to, treated and discharged from the gynecological ward in Mbale RRH. METHODOLOGY: This was a mixed methods study involving the collection of secondary data via the review of patients' files and the collection of qualitative data via key informant interviews. The files of patients who were admitted from August 2022 to December 2022, treated and discharged were reviewed using a data extraction tool. The descriptive statistics of the data were analyzed using STATA version 15, while the qualitative data were analyzed via deductive thematic analysis using Atlas ti version 9. RESULTS: Data were collected from 612 patient files. For qualitative data, a total of 8 key informant interviews were conducted. Social history had the most participants with no information provided at all (83.5% not recorded), with biodata and vital sign examination (20% not recorded) having the least number. For the patients' biodata, at least one parameter was recorded in all the patients, with the greatest gap noted in terms of recording the nearest health facility of the patient (91% not recorded). In the history, the greatest gap was noted in the history of current pregnancy (37.5% not provided at all); however, there was also a large gap in the past gynecological history (71% not recorded at all), past medical history (71% not recorded at all), past surgical history (73% not recorded at all) and family history (80% not recorded at all). The physical examination revealed the greatest gap in the abdominal examination (43%), with substantial gaps in the general examination (38.5% not recorded at all) and vaginal examination (40.5% not recorded at all), and the vital sign examination revealed the least gap. There was no patient who received a complete clerkship. There was a significant association between clerkships and the length of hospital stay. The causes of the gap in clerkships were multifactorial and included those related to the hospital, those related to the health worker, those related to the health care system and those related to the patient. The strategies to improve the clerkship of patients also included measures taken by health care workers, measures taken by hospitals and measures taken by the government. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: There is a gap in the clerkships of patients at the gynecological ward that is recognized by the stakeholders at the ward, with some components of the clerkship being better recorded than others, and no patients who received a complete clerkship. There was a significant association between clerkships and the length of hospital stay. The following is the recommended provision of clerkship tools, such as the standardized clerkship guide and equipment for patient examination, continuous education of health workers on clerkships and training them on how to use the available tools, the development of SOPs for patient clerkships, the promotion of clerkship culture and the supervision of health workers.

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Background: Uganda has had the longest COVID-19-induced closures of schools world over of over 20 months, according to a recent UNICEF report, which has greatly affected learning and mental health of University students. This study assessed levels of anxiety, challenges and coping strategies of students at a university in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic lock down. Methods: We conducted an online, descriptive, cross-sectional study between 26th June and 26th July 2021 using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods among students of Busitema University in Eastern Uganda. The survey assessed anxiety levels of students using General Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale, and its associations using the Chi-Square or Fischer's exact test and multivariate logistic regression. We also explored the challenges and coping strategies employed by students through in-depth interviews. Results: A total of 338 students participated, 213 (63%) were male with median age of 23 years (21-25), majority from Faculty of health sciences (n = 153, 45%). Overall, 179 (53%) of the students had anxiety which was mostly mild anxiety (n = 127, 38%). Students concerned about inadequate internet facilities to support online learning were twice more likely to have anxiety (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.7; p = 0.021). Among those with anxiety, avoidance coping strategies had higher scores with a median of 8 (3-12) compared to other strategies (p < 0.001). In-depth interviews revealed challenges with online learning, academic progress, and changes to daily routine and fear of contracting COVID-19 and getting vaccinated. Conclusion: The largest number of students had anxiety especially those from faculty of health sciences and engineering of which most used avoidance strategies to cope up with the anxiety. This highlights areas where the university authorities should gear effort to design appropriate strategies to maintain mental health of students even after the pandemic.

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BACKGROUND: Postpartum urinary Catheter-Related Infections (CRIs) are a significant cause of maternal sepsis. Several studies done have reported the presence of mixed populations of bacteria with a significant increase in Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) Enterobacteriaceae spps, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) bacteria in urine and blood cultures of catheterized patients despite the use of prophylactic antibiotics. This study aimed at determining the bacterial species diversity and susceptibility patterns of indwelling urinary catheters from postpartum mothers attending Mbale Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH). METHODS: A cross-sectional study employing quantitative and qualitative was carried out in MRRH among postpartum mothers with urinary catheters and their care-takers. The purposive non-random sampling strategy was used to collect data using an interviewer-administered questionnaire for the quantitative data collection and in-depth interviews for qualitative data collection. All the data collection tools used were developed, pretested and validated. At the point of de-catheterization, Catheter tips from enrolled participants were cut about 2-3cm below the balloon aseptically into test-tube containing peptone water, sonication technique employed, and incubation done 24hours then cultured to ensure phenotypic identification. An antibiotic sensitivity test was performed using the disc diffusion method following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Quantitative data collected was entered in Microsoft Excel and then exported to STATA14 for statistical analysis. Thematic analysis was used to analyse and organise qualitative data by an inductive coding method using Nvivo 12 software. RESULTS: In this study, 208 postpartum mothers participated, the majority of whom were caesarean section mothers of age range 20-24 years and 17 care-takers with a median age of 32 years. The prevalence of catheter tips bacterial colonisation was 98% despite 88.5% of the participants being on broad-spectrum antibiotics. The average duration of catheterisation was 2 days. All bacteria isolates were potential uro-pathogens with a mean occurrence of 2 bacteria species in each urinary catheter tip. The rates of MDR to commonly used antibiotics were high. The urinary catheter size of greater than F14 and duration of catheterization greater than 2 days were significantly associated with the number of bacterial species isolated from each sample. The maintenance care and knowledge of care-urinary catheter care among the care-takers was found sub-optimal. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of catheter colonisation with bacterial spps diversity averaging 2 spps per sample despite use of broad spectrum antibiotics. The MDR rates were high, which calls for routine culture and sensitivity. Health workers practicing obstetric medicine need to pay attention to catheter sizes during catheterisation and its duration. Health education should be part of antenatal and postnatal care education.

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