Observational studyScientific reports2025
A longitudinal study examining determinants of essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in regional referral hospitals across Uganda.
Observational study in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted essential health services worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, lockdowns initially controlled virus transmission but later negatively affected non-COVID-19 healthcare. In Uganda, government policies evolved from strict movement restrictions to moderate restrictions with consideration for socioeconomic activities. This study assessed the impact of COVID-19 measures on hospital access in Uganda. We performed a longitudinal observational study using monthly outpatient data from four regional referral hospitals (RRHs) in 2019-2021. Outpatients of seven services-delivery, antenatal care (ANC), malaria testing, HIV testing, antiretroviral therapy (ART), diabetes care, and childhood immunization-were examined. Determinants included new COVID-19 cases, a stringency index, and a vaccine policy index from the Oxford database. Multilevel mixed-effects models assessed the associations between the number of outpatients and three indices. The stringency index significantly reduced access to services of delivery, ANC, malaria and HIV testing, and diabetes care. Increased COVID-19 cases negatively impacted delivery services, while vaccination policies positively influenced delivery and diabetes care. Uptake of ART services remained stable. Hospitals in low-population areas were more affected than those in higher-population areas. Strict movement restrictions impeded access to essential hospital services. This study highlights the need for adaptable measures to sustain routine healthcare during novel pandemics.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.