Cross-sectional cohort analysis reveals gaps in COVID-19 preventive practices among those vulnerable to HIV, suggesting intervention needs.
Key Points
This research aims to understand COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among individuals vulnerable to HIV in Uganda.
Conducted a cross-sectional cohort study from October 2022 to September 2024.
Enrolled participants aged 14–55 years without HIV, with recent behavioral vulnerabilities.
Collected socio-behavioral data, including assessments of COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices.
Employed robust Poisson regression to estimate prevalence ratios for COVID-19 preventive practices.
Among 418 participants, 56.9% were female with a median age of 21 years.
High knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes (95.4%) but variable knowledge on genetic variants (48.5%−69.7%).
Practices included handwashing (90.8%), but lower rates for mask-wearing (76.5%) and vaccination (46.9%).
Males were more likely to avoid symptomatic individuals and report vaccination, while Omicron wave enrollment linked to higher vaccination but lower mask-wearing.