Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patient retention and resource capacity in HIV care clinics in Blantyre urban
Date
2021-02-16
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
Type of study: This is an interrupted time series retrospective study involving the same population
of adults patronizing HIV services in four urban health facilities in Blantyre whose
outcomes would be measured before and after the declaration of COVID-19 as a
state of disaster in Malawi.
Problem
COVID-19 pandemic has led to many socioeconomic challenges in addition to the
lives lost and disability caused by the illness itself. Measures such as lockdowns and
quarantines have led to decreased access to health services due to restricted
movements and interruptions in supply chain.
Objectives:
The broad aim of this study is to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on
patient retention and resource capacity in HIV care clinics in Blantyre urban before
and during COVID-19 pandemic. This will consider the numbers of patients attending
or failing to attend their ART clinic visits in these two periods. It will also assess the
clinics capacity to offer uninterrupted HIV services during the pandemic with possible
explanations of the observations.
Methodology:
This study compares HIV treatment service utilization during similar months before
and after declaration of state of disaster in Malawi which is the exposure. The
outcomes are observed over a period of six months from April to September, 2020,
and are compared to a similar period in 2019 to determine the differences. The data
will be obtained from patient records at the participating health facilities as well as
input from the clinic staff through questionnaire interviews.
Expected findings:
The findings from this study will help to understand the short-term impacts of COVID-
19 pandemic on the HIV service delivery and may provide insights for larger studies
to be conducted based on the findings.
Dissemination:
Results from this study will be disseminated to various stake holders such as
COMREC, participating health facilities, Blantyre District Health Office, M-HIRST,
research conferences and various peer reviewed journals.