Prevalence of discontinuation of contraceptives due to failure among women aged 14 to 49 years in Uganda: a nation wide cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Sustained motivation is essential for effective use of contraceptive methods by women in low- and middle-income countries as many women are likely to abandon contraceptives, especially when they continually experience episodes of failure. We aimed to determine the prevalence of discontinuation of contraceptives due to failure and its associated factors among Ugandan women aged 14-49 years. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted using the UDHS 2016 data. Multi stage stratified sampling was used to select participants. All eligible women aged 15 to 49 years at the time of the survey were enrolled. Bivariable and Multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to determine the factors associated with contraceptive failure. All analysis were done using Stata version 13. Contraceptive failure (getting pregnant while on contraceptives) within five years preceding the survey was the dependent variable. RESULTS: A total of 9061 women were included in the study. The overall prevalence of contraceptive failure was 5.6% [n = 506, 95% CI: 5.1-6.1] and was higher (6.2%) among women aged 20-29 years or had completed secondary education (6.1%). Having informed choice on contraceptives [aOR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.49 - 0.72] and older age [aOR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.24-0.89] were associated with lower odds of contraceptive failure. CONCLUSION: The burden of contraceptive failure among women of reproductive age in Uganda is substantial and significantly varied by women's age, level of education, exposure to the internet, mass media, and informed choice. These findings highlight the need for improved counseling services and contraceptive quality to help women and couples use methods correctly and consistently.

Negative experiences and coping strategies to stressful situations by undergraduate University students during Covid- 19 lockdown period in Uganda.

Aim: To describe the negative experiences, coping strategies for stressful situations, and factors associated with COVID-19 worry among undergraduate students at Makerere University during the second COVID-19 lockdown in Uganda. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study at Makerere University. Negative experiences and coping strategies were measured using a semi-structured questionnaire formulated based on literature and findings from previous studies on mental health and COVID-19. Descriptive statistics and measures of association were done using Stata 13. Results: A total of 301 participants were enrolled. Their median age were 23 years. The majority were male (192, 64.0 %), single (269, 89.7 %,) and on normal academic progress (241, 80.3 %). 48.0 % of the participants were worried about COVID-19. Disruption of students' academics (277, 92.0 %) and financial problems (184, 61.1 %) were the most reported negative experiences. Coping strategies included listening to music (203, 67.4 %), talking to family and friends (191, 63.5 %,) and watching movies (174, 57.8 %). Female students than males (aOR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0-45.0, p= 0.118) and students without paid employment than those with paid work (aOR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-5.0, p=0.109) were more worried about COVID-19. Conclusion: Nearly half of the students were worried about COVID-19, which disrupted their social and academic lives. The students utilized a myriad of coping strategies.

Determinants of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Frontline Health Workers During the First Wave of COVID-19 in Africa: A Multicenter Online Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: During its first wave of COVID-19 infection in sub-Saharan Africa, there was insufficient understanding of the pandemic among frontline health workers. This study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of frontline health workers (HWs) towards COVID-19 in Africa and their related factors. Methods: This was a multicenter online cross-sectional study conducted between April 2020 and July 2020 using a Google survey link among frontline HWs involved in the COVID-19 response in 26 African countries. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyse the determinants of KAP. Data were analyzed using STATA ver 16; all tests were two-sided with 95% confidence interval. Results: Five hundred and seventeen participated in this study from 26 African countries; 289 (55.9%) were male and 228 (44.1%) female. Most of HWs, 379 (73.3%) showed poor knowledge about COVID-19 infection and preventive measures. In contrast, majority of them showed good attitude (89%) and practice (90.3%) towards prevention of COVID-19 infections. Knowledge varied among countries; Uganda had the greatest number of HWs with good knowledge (OR: 28.09, p<0.0001) followed by Ghana (OR=10.92, p=0.001) and DRC (OR: 4.59, p=0.015). The cadre of HWs also influenced knowledge; doctors were the most knowledgeable as compared to other cadres (OR: 3.4, p= 0.005). Attitude and practice were both influenced by HWs country of workplace and their cadre (p<0.05). Conclusion: Majority of the frontline HWs in the African region had an overall good attitude and practice towards COVID-19 infection and practice measures despite relatively poor knowledge. The KAP is influenced by HWs country of workplace, their cadre. The knowledge of HWs in Africa should be increased to concourt with their attitude and practice to reduce the burden of intra-hospital transmission of the COVID-19.