ArticleBMJ open2022
Explorative-descriptive study on the effects of COVID-19 on access to antiretroviral therapy services: the case of a teaching hospital in Ghana.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the HIV care continuum across global income levels: a mixed-methods systematic review.AIDS research and therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Scale of differentiated service delivery implementation in HIV care facilities in low- and middle-income countries: a global facility survey.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Article
- Differentiated Service Delivery Models for Maintaining HIV Treatment and Prevention Services During Crisis and Disease Outbreaks: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2024Review
- "I only seek treatment when I am ill": experiences of hypertension and diabetes care among adults living with HIV in urban Tanzania.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV and HIV care: A qualitative study in the Volta Region of Ghana.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV healthcare delivery for females in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Defining measures of emergency care access in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The in-hospital tuberculosis diagnostic cascade and early clinical outcomes among people living with HIV before and during the COVID-19 pandemic - a prospective multisite cohort study from Ghana.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2023Article
- A multi-country survey on access to healthcare and treatment services among individuals with critical medical care needs during the first wave of the pandemic.BMC public health · 2023Article
- COVID-19 impacts on healthcare access in sub-Saharan Africa: an overview.The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases · 2023Article
- The Influence of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Health Seeking Behaviors of Adults Living With Chronic Conditions: A View Through the Health Belief Model.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) services from the perspective of the persons living with HIV (PLWH).
designThe study adopted an exploratory-descriptive qualitative design that used in-depth interviews as the technique for the data collection. Data analysis was done using conceptual content analysis, following the traditions of Elo and Kyngäs on deductive and Hsieh on inductive content analysis.
settingART clinic, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana.
participantsTwelve participants who had at least 1 year history of accessing ART care before the COVID-19 pandemic and at least one clinic visit during the pandemic were purposively sampled from the ART clinic.
resultsFive concepts of accessing healthcare proposed by Penchansky and Thomas were explored: accessibility, availability, affordability, accommodation and acceptability. The ART unit in the study setting remained open for service delivery throughout the pandemic. However, fear of contracting the virus while patronising services affected the participants' decision to use the facility. Although all the participants in this study reportedly honoured their refill appointments, they indicated knowledge of other PLWH defaulting. With reference to the availability of resources, a shortage of antiretrovirals was reported, affecting the refill appointment intervals. In spite of the challenges, several strategies were implemented to accommodate the patients' needs while protecting them from contracting the virus by instituting the stipulated COVID-19 protocols. The study found that some of the strategies impacted the acceptability and affordability of the services as transportation costs increased. Varying levels of accessibility to health workers providing ART services in the study setting was also recorded.
conclusionStrategies were implemented to accommodate the effects of the pandemic on ART provision. However, these had deficiencies that must be addressed using appropriate Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) interventions that will ensure continuous access to service delivery in the ongoing and any similar future occurrences.
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