Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda
Disruptions to the health sector in Uganda during the COVID 19 pandemic affected health services in the early phases of the pandemic. Not much data exists on their effect on these same services during the later stages of the pandemic especially for children. To fill this gap, we set out to study mis...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/2943 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1856816781121814528 |
|---|---|
| author | Nduhukire, Timothy Adebayo, Ismail Abiola Luwaga, Rachel Mandela, Immaculate Napyo, Agnes Ainamani, Herbert Musiime, Victor |
| author_facet | Nduhukire, Timothy Adebayo, Ismail Abiola Luwaga, Rachel Mandela, Immaculate Napyo, Agnes Ainamani, Herbert Musiime, Victor |
| author_sort | Nduhukire, Timothy |
| collection | KAB-DR |
| description | Disruptions to the health sector in Uganda during the COVID 19 pandemic affected health services in the early phases of the pandemic. Not much data exists on their effect on these same services during the later stages of the pandemic especially for children. To fill this gap, we set out to study missed appointments and their associated factors during the lockdown for children receiving Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART).
Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from January 2022 to May 2022. We included all children aged 0–15 and adolescents aged 15–19 years who were on ART. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) for the participants in the last 12 months were extracted. Descriptive statistics are presented. Binary logistic regression was performed, and odds ratios were reported.
Results: Out of the 382 participants, 26 (6.8%) missed appointments during the study period. The likelihood of missing appointments was increased when drugs were given to last 4 months than when they were given to last one month (COR 3.207, P value 0.026, 95% CI 1.150–8.943). Patients were also more likely to miss appointments if their mode of receiving drugs was Facility based group (COR 3.174, P = 0.043, 95% CI 1.037–9.713). Not having a viral load in the last 12 months increased the likelihood of missing an appointment (COR 2.309, P = 0.049, CI 1.004–5.306).
Conclusion: A drug refill of 4 months and being scheduled to receive drugs by Facility-based group model predisposed the participants to missing the next appointment. Home- or community-based ART delivery to clients as well as drug prescriptions for a longer period could reduce missed appointments. Timely viral load testing should be encouraged as it correlates with adherence to appointments. More research is needed on the safety, storage practices and efficacy of ART given to last more than 2 months. |
| format | Article |
| id | oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-2943 |
| institution | KAB-DR |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-29432025-09-06T00:00:17Z Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda Nduhukire, Timothy Adebayo, Ismail Abiola Luwaga, Rachel Mandela, Immaculate Napyo, Agnes Ainamani, Herbert Musiime, Victor COVID 19 pandemic anti-retroviral therapy missed appointments electronic medical records viral load Disruptions to the health sector in Uganda during the COVID 19 pandemic affected health services in the early phases of the pandemic. Not much data exists on their effect on these same services during the later stages of the pandemic especially for children. To fill this gap, we set out to study missed appointments and their associated factors during the lockdown for children receiving Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study from January 2022 to May 2022. We included all children aged 0–15 and adolescents aged 15–19 years who were on ART. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) for the participants in the last 12 months were extracted. Descriptive statistics are presented. Binary logistic regression was performed, and odds ratios were reported. Results: Out of the 382 participants, 26 (6.8%) missed appointments during the study period. The likelihood of missing appointments was increased when drugs were given to last 4 months than when they were given to last one month (COR 3.207, P value 0.026, 95% CI 1.150–8.943). Patients were also more likely to miss appointments if their mode of receiving drugs was Facility based group (COR 3.174, P = 0.043, 95% CI 1.037–9.713). Not having a viral load in the last 12 months increased the likelihood of missing an appointment (COR 2.309, P = 0.049, CI 1.004–5.306). Conclusion: A drug refill of 4 months and being scheduled to receive drugs by Facility-based group model predisposed the participants to missing the next appointment. Home- or community-based ART delivery to clients as well as drug prescriptions for a longer period could reduce missed appointments. Timely viral load testing should be encouraged as it correlates with adherence to appointments. More research is needed on the safety, storage practices and efficacy of ART given to last more than 2 months. 2025-09-05T13:59:02Z 2025-09-05T13:59:02Z 2025-06-28 Article Nduhukire, T., Adebayo, I. A., Luwaga, R., Mandela, I., Napyo, A., Ainamani, H., & Musiime, V. (2025). Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda. HIV/AIDS-Research and Palliative Care, 175-184. https://doi.org/10.2147/HIV.S520964 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/2943 en Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ application/pdf Taylor & Francis |
| spellingShingle | COVID 19 pandemic anti-retroviral therapy missed appointments electronic medical records viral load Nduhukire, Timothy Adebayo, Ismail Abiola Luwaga, Rachel Mandela, Immaculate Napyo, Agnes Ainamani, Herbert Musiime, Victor Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title | Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title_full | Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title_fullStr | Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title_full_unstemmed | Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title_short | Missed Appointments and Associated Factors Among Children Accessing Anti-Retroviral Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Western Uganda |
| title_sort | missed appointments and associated factors among children accessing anti retroviral therapy during the covid 19 pandemic in south western uganda |
| topic | COVID 19 pandemic anti-retroviral therapy missed appointments electronic medical records viral load |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/2943 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nduhukiretimothy missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT adebayoismailabiola missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT luwagarachel missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT mandelaimmaculate missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT napyoagnes missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT ainamaniherbert missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda AT musiimevictor missedappointmentsandassociatedfactorsamongchildrenaccessingantiretroviraltherapyduringthecovid19pandemicinsouthwesternuganda |