Predictors of HIV prevention knowledge and sexual behaviors among students at Makerere University Kampala, Uganda

Background: Prior reviews argue that unsafe sexual behaviors and poor HIV knowledge significantly increase the probability of acquiring HIV infections among adolescents. This study assessed the predictors of HIV prevention knowledge and sexual behaviors among Makerere university students in Uganda.   Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey. We performed a normality test using Shapiro Wilk test on knowledge score. Results revealed that knowledge score was not normally distributed. The study used two sample Wilcoxon Rank Sum and Kruskal Wallis Rank tests to assess the effect of HIV knowledge on demographic characteristics and sexual behaviors. Post-hoc tests were conducted using Bonferroni correction. Spearman rank correlation test was used for continuous variables while Chi-square and Fisher’s tests were used for categorical variables to assess the relationship between demographic characteristics and sexual behaviors.     Results: We report results for 1337 students. The mean age was 21.2SD (1.6) and more than half 700(52.4%) were male students. The median HIV prevention knowledge score of students was 13 IQR (11-15) in the range of 0 to 18. Males significantly scored higher than females (13.0 IQR (12-15) vs. 12.0 IQR (10-14) p=0.000), an increase in age was associated with higher knowledge scores (Rho = 0.101, p = 0.000).   Students in the third year of study significantly scored higher than those in the first year, and government-sponsored students scored higher than the privately sponsored students. HIV knowledge was also significantly associated with sexual experience, and condom use at univariate level but insignificant at multiple level analysis. Males were more likely to have ever had sex (31.7% vs. 12.7%) and ever used a condom (63% vs. 55%) than females respectively   Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Makerere University students possessed good knowledge on HIV. There is evidence of an association between student’s knowledge, and demographic characteristics and a few sexual behaviors. Future behavioral and educational programs that target both sexually and non-sexually experienced students should address the gender differences

Small-scale individual entrepreneurs (SIEs) and the usage of mobile money (M-money) and mobile commerce (M-commerce) in facilitating business growth in Ghana

Small-Scale and Individual Entrepreneurs (SIEs) play a key role in economic growth of develop-ing countries. The principal objective of this study is to investigate M-money and M-commerce contribution to business growth in Ghana. A cross-sectional survey is used to collect the neces-sary data and a total of 480 SIEs respondents participated in the study. The data is collected from three different locations in the capital city Accra where the activities of SIEs are predominate (Lapaz=230, Kaneshie=150, and Kasoa= 170). The researchers used Stata in analyzing the quan-titative data. The findings reveal that M-money and M-commerce facilitate the growth of business among SIEs. However, few people reported of savings (3.5%) and make merchandise payments (4.8%), due to perceived risk issues. The study used cross-sectional survey design and conven-ience sampling which makes it difficult to generalize the findings

Utilization of a mobile phone application to increase access to sexual and reproductive health information, goods, and services among university students in Uganda

10.1186/s12978-020-01037-zReproductive Health1819

Study protocol: using a mobile phone-based application to increase awareness and uptake of sexual and reproductive health services among the youth in Uganda. A randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Several cost-effective programs are being implemented around the world that use mobile technology to improve Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) uptake and awareness among youth. Mobile phone applications are a viable and effective means of increasing access to SRH services and tools in low and middle-income countries. This paper presents a protocol for a pilot study of a novel program, a mobile phone-based sexual and reproductive health services awareness and delivery application with the objective of increasing the demand for SRH services amongst the youth in Uganda. Methods The study employs rigorous evaluation methods to ascertain the impact of the mobile application. We propose a randomized control trial study to determine the causal effect of the mobile phone app in creating awareness and increasing uptake of sexual and reproductive health services in Uganda. The main outcome of the impact evaluation is the percentage change in the SRH services and tools uptake, SRH knowledge and sexual behavior. We will also conduct a model-based incremental cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and budget impact analysis (BIA). The main outcomes of the economic evaluation will be the average cost per app user, cost per app service and tool provided. We will also test the in-app advertising model as a way to generate revenue to sustain the program subsidies and related costs. Discussion The study seeks to establish the proof of concept of using a mobile application to increase create awareness and increase uptake of SRH tools and services among youth in Uganda. The study results will lead to the development of a demand-driven, culturally-relevant, and easy-to-use mobile app to enhance the uptake of SRH services among the youth in Uganda and globally. Trial registration MUREC1/7 No. 07/05–18. Registered 29th June 2018

Acceptability of cervical cancer screening using visual inspection among women attending a childhood immunization clinic in Uganda

Objective: To evaluate the acceptability and performance of cervical cancer (CC) screening using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) integrated into a rural immunization clinic in Uganda. Methods/materials: We conducted a cross-sectional pilot study in rural Uganda. We explored associations between women's characteristics and acceptance of VIA testing. We collected samples for Papanicolaou (Pap) smear testing in a random subset of women and used results from this test as a comparator for assessing VIA performance. Results: We enrolled 625 women of whom 571 (91.4%) accepted and 54 (8.6%) refused CC screening. In the univariate model, age (Odds Ratio (OR)=1.10; p-value<0.001) and employment status (OR 2.00; p-value=0.019) were significantly associated with acceptance of VIA screening. In the multivariate model, no characteristic was independently associated with acceptance of VIA screening after adjusting for other factors. Compared to reference Pap smear, CC screening with VIA had a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 97.7%. Conclusions: CC screening with VIA is highly acceptable in the setting of rural immunization clinics in Uganda. Studies to assess which screening method would be the most effective and cost-effective are needed before stakeholders can consider adopting screening programs at scale