Abstract

COVID-19 was a quickly progressing disease but unfortunately, currently, scientists
have not discovered potential therapeutic agents which are effective; which leaves
preventive measures such as screening to be the most effective means of curbing the
spread of COVID-19. The study aimed at determining the prevalence and identifying
the factors affecting COVID-19 screening among patients attending OPD Services at
Lira regional referral hospital, Lira District northern Uganda so as to develop
mechanisms to ensure that screening for COVID-19 is scaled up. A cross-sectional
health facility-based study was conducted among 384 patients attending OPD of Lira
Regional Referral Hospital. A simple random sampling technique was used to include
the participants. Pre-tested and structured questionnaires were used to collect the
required data. To determine factors associated with COVID-19 screening, univariate
analysis and modified Poisson regression were run and crude prevalence ratios with
95% confidence interval were used to determine the level of significance at bivariate
meanwhile adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated at multivariate analysis to
establish independent significant factors. The prevalence of COVID-19 screening was
64.06% (246/384) with a 95% confidence interval of 59.24 -68.88. The factors
independently associated with COVID-19 screening were; Education level; Primary (Apr
1.31, 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-19
screening was 64.06%, which means that 35.94% of patients who visited OPD during
the study period were not screened for COVID-19. Education level, Perceived
Understaffing and Community COVID-19 Outreaches were independently associated
with COVID-19 Screening among OPD patients at Lira Regional Referral Hospital.