Andia‑Biraro, IreneBaruch Baluku, JosephOlum, RonaldBongomin, FelixKyazze, Andrew PeterNinsiima, SandraSsekamatte, PhillipKibirige, DavisBiraro, SamuelSeremba, EmmanuelKabugo, Charles2023-11-232023-11-232023Andia-Biraro, I., Baluku, J. B., Olum, R., Bongomin, F., Kyazze, A. P., Ninsiima, S., ... & Kabugo, C. (2023). Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on inpatient service utilization and patient outcomes in Uganda. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-10.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-36877-9https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14270/336COVID-19 has had devastating efects on health systems but reports from sub-Saharan Africa are few. We compared inpatient admissions, diagnostic tests performed, clinical characteristics and inpatient mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic at an urban tertiary facility in Uganda. We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients admitted at Kiruddu National Referral Hospital in Uganda between January–July 2019 (before the pandemic) and January–July 2020 (during the pandemic). Of 3749 inpatients, 2014 (53.7%) were female, and 1582 (42.2%) had HIV. There was a 6.1% decline in admissions from 1932 in 2019 to 1817 in 2020. There were signifcantly fewer diagnostic tests performed in 2020 for malaria, tuberculosis, and diabetes. Overall, 649 (17.3%) patients died. Patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.2, 95% confdence interval [CI] 1.04–1.5, p= 0.018), patients aged≥ 60 years (aOR 1.6, 95% CI 1.2–2.1, p= 0.001), HIV co-infected (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2–1.9, p < 0.001), and those admitted as referrals (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2–1.9, p < 0.001) had higher odds of dying. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted inpatient service utilization and was associated with inpatient mortality. Policy makers need to build resilience in health systems in Africa to cope with future pandemics.enEfect of COVID‑19 pandemic on inpatient service utilization and patient outcomes in UgandaArticle