Prevalence of newly diagnosed HIV patients aged 18-50 years attending the ART clinic at Kajjansi health centre IV. A cross-sectional study.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51168/sjhrafrica.v7i2.2295Keywords:
Newly diagnosed HIV, Antiretroviral Viral Therapy clinic, Kajjansi health centre IV, Post Exposure Prophylaxis, Pre-exposure prophylaxisAbstract
Background:
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of newly diagnosed HIV, the level of knowledge, and utilisation of preventive services before diagnosis among patients aged 18-50 attending the ART clinic at Kajjansi Health Centre IV.
Methodology:
A descriptive cross-sectional study design was adopted for the study, with a simple random technique to obtain 100 respondents. Participants were randomly selected to participate in the study. Semi-structured questionnaires with closed-ended questions were used for data collection, and results were analysed using Microsoft Excel. Results were presented in the form of tables.
Results:
Out of 100 participants, 10 (10%) were 41-50 years, 32 (32%) were between 31-40 years, 40 (40%) were between 21-30 years, and 14 (14%) were between 18-20 years. Seventy (70%) were females, and 30 (30%) were males. The overall prevalence of newly diagnosed HIV patients aged 18-50 attending the ART clinic at Kajjansi Health Centre IV was 80%, with 80 participants positive for HIV and 20(20%) participants negative for HIV. Regarding knowledge, 95% of the participants had heard about HIV before diagnosis, 20% had used PEP or PrEP before, and the 80% had never used PEP or PrEP before. Most, 70% of the participants use a condom during intercourse, 65% had received HIV counselling before diagnosis, while 35% had never received HIV counselling before, and 75% do often go for HIV ART services.
Conclusion:
The study reveals an exceptionally high HIV positivity rate among the screened clinic population at Kajjansi, alongside high basic awareness but critical gaps in biomedical prevention.
Recommendation:
Future studies should be conducted on a large scale to obtain a clear picture of the prevalence of newly diagnosed HIV patients aged 18-50, representing statistics.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Denelson Kabogoza, Richard Miiro, Hasifa Nansereko, Francisco Ssemuwemba, Anthony Ssekitoleko, Jane Frank Nalubega
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