The National Research Repository of Uganda - NRU

Welcome to the National Research Repository of Uganda, abbreviated as "NRU". NRU was established in 2021. NRU is a collection of scholarly output by researchers from the UNCST Community, including scholarly articles and books, electronic theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, journals, technical reports and digitised library collections. It is the official Institutional Archive (IA) of UNCST.

For information about the publishers' copyright policy on archiving your articles online or in an institutional archive, visit the Sherpa Site at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php The site gives a summary of the permissions normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement. If you wish to publish your research findings in the NRU, please contact NRU administrator at admin@uncst.go.ug for details. NRU operates both open access and closed access models. Access to fulltext has been restricted in adherence to the UNCST Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Copyrights policies.

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Africa Portal is an online repository of open access library collection with over 3,000 books, journals, and digital documents on African policy issues. This is an initiative by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Makerere University (MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Please visit the Africa Portal at http://www.africaportal.org/library.

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Books and Book Abstracts
This community contains Open Access Books and Book Abstracts
Conference Proceedings
This community contains Ugandan Conference proceedings
Institutional Annual Research Reports
This community contains consolidated Ugandan Institutional Annual Research Reports on a broad range of subjects
Institutional Repository Policies
This community contains approved and running institutional repository policies from different research institutions
IT DevOps Communinity
IT DevOps Community

Recent Submissions

Prevalence trends of transfusion-transmitted infections at a tertiary private hospital blood bank in Uganda: a retrospective 6-year review (2017–2022)
(BMC, 2025-05)
Kanyike, Andrew Marvin;
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Kakuba, Frank;
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Mayambala, Posiano ;
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Nalunkuma, Racheal;
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Nakandi, Rachael Mukisa;
Background Blood transfusion is a life-saving medical intervention that can transmit transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs). In Uganda, prevalent infections in the general population may increase the risk of TTIs. This study determined the trends in seroprevalence of TTIs, including the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and syphilis among blood donations over a 6-year period at a tertiary hospital blood bank in Uganda. Methods This was a retrospective cross-sectional study utilizing data from Mengo Hospital Rotary Blood Bank in central Uganda. Data was accessed through the central electronic system of Uganda Blood Transfusion Services for January 2017 to December 2022. Data was analyzed using STATA version 16.0. Descriptive statistics and time trend analysis were performed. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results We analyzed 24,547 blood donations, the majority of which were male donors (18,525, 75.5%) within the age group of 25–40 years (9737, 39.7%) and of Blood group O (12,509, 51.0%). The overall prevalence of TTIs was 8.7% (2,142) and significantly higher among males (8.9%, p<0.001) and those over 40 years (10.7%, p<0.01). Syphilis had the highest prevalence at 3.0%, followed by HBV (2.8%), HCV (1.7%), and HIV (1.3%). Co-infections were observed in 0.6% (136) of the donors, with the most common being HBV and syphilis (33, 0.1%). The prevalence trends of TTIs analysed among new donations decreased from 13.7% in 2017 to 8.9% in 2022 (p=0.124). Only HCV showed a statistically significant variation, decreasing from 5.2% in 2017 to 1.7% in 2022 (p=0.009). Conclusion There is a decreasing trend of TTIs among blood donors in Central Uganda, although the prevalence of HBV and Syphilis remains high. Additional public health interventions to decrease TTI rates in the general population may increase the safety of blood transfusions.
Premenstrual Disorders, Their Severity Patterns, and Predictors Among Female University Students in Western Uganda: A Cross‐Sectional Study
(Wiley, 2025-11-23)
Marc Nzambimana;
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Emmanuel Okurut;
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Marie Pascaline Sabine Ishimwe;
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Carlos Batista Cedeno;
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Raissa Marie Ingrid Niyubahwe;
ABSTRACT Background: Premenstrual disorders (PMDs), including premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), are common menstrual‐related conditions that significantly impact the quality of life and academic performance of young women. This study aimed to determine their burden and predictors among female university students in Western Uganda. Methodology: We conducted a cross‐sectional study (December 2024–March 2025) at Kampala International University, Western Campus using the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST). The PSST comprises symptom items and functional‐impairment items with validated diagnostic cut‐offs for PMDD and for moderate‐to‐severe PMS. We performed bivariate and multivariable logistic regression to identify predictors of PMDs, reporting adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 453 participants were enrolled. Overall, 75.9% met PSST diagnostic criteria for a PMD. PMS accounted for 46.3% and PMDD for 29.6% of the sample. Among PMS cases, moderate severity predominated (52.8%), followed by mild (36.2%) and severe (11.0%) categories. Independent predictors of PMDs included enrollment in the School of Allied Health Sciences (aOR = 4.25, 95% CI 1.00–18.03, p = 0.050), Muslim religion (aOR = 2.79, 95% CI 1.19–6.54, p = 0.020), drug use (aOR = 2.44, 95% CI 1.13–5.26, p = 0.024), and history of traumatic events (aOR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.07–4.70, p = 0.031). Conclusions: This study demonstrates a substantial burden of PMDs among female university students, with a predominance of moderate symptom severity. These findings support the need for screening and intervention programs within university settings. Targeted psychosocial support, stress‐management strategies, and menstrual health services may mitigate the academic and emotional consequences of PMDs.
Economic impact of giving land to refugees
(Elsevier, 2024-06)
Mawejje, Joseph
This paper adds to a sparse but growing literature on the economic costs and benefits of hosting refugees, including a unique policy of providing refugees with access to cultivable land. We construct a general equilibrium model from microsurvey data to simulate the spillover effects of giving land to refugees on income and production in the host-country economy surrounding a refugee settlement in Uganda. Reduced-form econometric analysis of land allocations at the refugee settlement, robust to several specifications, confirms the simulation finding that providing refugees with agricultural land significantly improves their welfare and self-reliance. Simulations reveal that refugee aid and land allocations generate positive income spillovers in the local economy out to a 15- km radius around the refugee settlement. Host-country households benefit significantly from the income spillovers that refugee assistance creates, and host-country agriculture is the largest beneficiary among production sectors.
Implementation of post-discharge malaria chemoprevention (PDMC) in Benin, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda: stakeholder engagement meeting report
(BioMed Central, 2024-03)
Hill, Jenny
A Stakeholder engagement meeting on the implementation of post-discharge malaria chemoprevention (PDMC) in Benin, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 27 September 2023. Representatives from the respective National Malaria Control Programmes, the World Health Organization (WHO) Geneva, Africa Regional and Kenya offices, research partners, non-governmental organizations, and the Medicines for Malaria Venture participated. PDMC was recommended by the WHO in June 2022 and involves provision of a full anti-malarial treatment course at regular intervals during the post-discharge period in children hospitalized with severe anaemia in areas of moderate-to-high malaria transmission. The WHO recommendation followed evidence from a meta-analysis of three clinical trials and from acceptability, delivery, cost-effectiveness, and modelling studies. The trials were conducted in The Gambia using monthly sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine during the transmission season, in Malawi using monthly artemether-lumefantrine, and in Kenya and Uganda using monthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, showing a significant reduction in all-cause mortality by 77% (95% CI 30-98) and a 55% (95% CI 44-64) reduction in all-cause hospital readmissions 6 months post-discharge. The recommendation has not yet been implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. There is no established platform for PDMC delivery. The objectives of the meeting were for the participating countries to share country contexts, plans and experiences regarding the adoption and implementation of PDMC and to explore potential delivery platforms in each setting. The meeting served as the beginning of stakeholder engagement within the PDMC Saves Lives project and will be followed by formative and implementation research to evaluate alternative delivery strategies in selected countries. Meeting highlights included country consensus on use of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for PDMC and expansion of the target group to "severe anaemia or severe malaria", in addition to identifying country-specific options for PDMC delivery for evaluation in implementation research. Further exploration is needed on whether the age group should be extended to school-age children. MEDLINE
Early generation seed starter materials and approaches to seed production: Challenge for improving the potato seed system in Uganda
(Wiley, 2024-05-30)
Prossy Namugga;
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Son Aijuka;
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Osbert Arinda;
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Benon Mateeka;
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Alex Barekye
Quality seed is one of the key inputs for increasing potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) productivity; however, its limited availability is widely recognized as a major constraint to potato production. In Uganda, certified seed production meets approximately 1.5% of effective demand implying most farmers use home-saved seed. This practice encourages the buildup of degenerative seed-borne diseases which ultimately affect productivity. Consequently, a study was conducted to determine the productivity of different seed potato production starting stock: tissue culture plantlets (TC) and rooted apical cuttings. Fifty plants of two potato varieties, NAROPOT1 and NAROPOT4, and for each starter material were evaluated both in the field and screen house for two seasons at Kachwekano and Karengyere research stations. Data were collected on the number of tubers per plant and tuber weight. Highly significant differences were observed for the type of starter materials and varieties for the number of tubers per plant (p ≤ 0.001) from both the screen house and field environments. More tubers per plant were obtained from TC for both varieties and the highest recorded was (24.5) for NAROPOT4 and (15.5) for NAROPOT1 in the screen house. Tuber weight was higher from rooted apical cuttings for both varieties NAROPOT1 (153.3 g) and NAROPOT4 (167.7 g). The correlation between the number of tubers per plant and weight was highly significant at p ≤ 0.001. Tissue culture raised plants were more productive in terms of tuber, and numbers are more important in seed production than weight and mini-tuber production can be done by farmers under affordable conditions.