Kwiringira, Andrew
Migisha, Richard
Bulage, Lilian
Kwesiga, Benon
Kadobera, Daniel
Upenytho, George
Mbaka, Paul
Harris, Julie R.
Hayes, Donald
Ario, Alex R.
Article History
Received: 21 February 2023
Accepted: 22 May 2024
First Online: 28 May 2024
Declarations
:
: The study received ethical approval from Kampala Internal University, Research, and Ethics Committee (KIU-2021-37). We also obtained permission from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and sought administrative clearance from District Health Officers to conduct this evaluation. The Office of Science, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that the primary intent of this evaluation was public health practice and not research.We sought verbal informed consent from all respondents before data collection. Written informed consent was not obtained to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 infection, since MOH Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) discouraged exchange of materials by hand. The Office of Science, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved this form of consent. Participants were told that their participation was voluntary and that there would be no negative consequences if they refused to participate. During data collection, respondents were assigned unique identifiers instead of names to protect their confidentiality. All methods were performed in accordance with WMA Declaration of Helsinki, ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Participants who were found to have high blood pressure were referred to clinical health workers. Information was stored in password-protected computers and was not shared with anyone outside the investigation team.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.