Abstract: Characteristics of the COVID-19 patients treated at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, Northern Uganda: A crosssectional study Steven Baguma Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Christopher Okot Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Nelson Alema Onira Gulu University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy Paska Apiyo Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Denis Acullu Aga Kan Hospital, Mombasa, Kenya Paska Layet Lacor Hospital Johnson Nyeko Oloya Uganda Medical Association, Acholi Branch, Gulu, Uganda Denis Ochula Lamwo Local Goverment, Uganda Pamela Atim St. Joseph's Hospital, Kitgum, Uganda Patrick Odong Olwedo Amuru Local Government, Uganda Francis Pebalo Pebolo Gulu University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Reproductive health Freddy Wathum Drinkwater Oyat Uganda Medical Association, Acholi Branch Janet Oola Nwoya Local Government, Uganda Judith Aloyo Rhites-N, Acholi, Gulu City, Uganda Eric Nzirakaindi Ikoona ICAP at Columbia University, Sierra Leone David Lagoro Kitara (  klagoro2@gmail.com ) Gulu University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7282-5026 Page 1/28 Research Article Keywords: COVID-19, Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, comorbidities, treatment, complications Posted Date: December 28th, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1193578/v1 License:   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Page 2/28 Abstract Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe respiratory disease that results from infection with a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). One of the most critical issues related to the COVID-19 is the high rate of spread, millions of people have been infected around the world, and hundreds of thousands of people have died till now. However, reports from Africa paint a different picture of the SARS-CoV-2 and its effects on the population. Objectives The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of the COVID-19 patients treated at the Gulu Regional Referral Hospital and determine factors associated with COVID-19 manifestations, socio-demographic characteristics, and treatment outcomes from March 2020 to October 2021. Methods A retrospective data abstraction of all COVID-19 hospital admissions registered in the Gulu Health Management Information System (HMIS) database and other tools were conducted. The period of study was March 2020 to October 2021. Data that met the inclusion criteria were consecutively abstracted from the Gulu Hospital HMIS database. A local IRB approved the study. SPSS version 25.0 was used for data analysis, and a p-value of 0.05 was considered significant. Results Data suggests there were three waves of COVID-19 in Uganda. Those with comorbidities, e.g., Diabetes mellitus 38(5.7%), hypertension 83(12.5%), cardiovascular diseases 58(8.7%), HIV and AIDS 61(9.2%), and other comorbidities such as liver cirrhosis and hepatitis B 40(6.0%) were more susceptible and presented with severe forms of the disease. Antibiotics 662(99.7%), steroids 73(11.0%), vitamin C 564(84.9%), Ivermectin 7(1.1%), and Vitamin D 24(3.6%) were the most used medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Most COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated 661(99.5%). However, the recovery rate was 632(95.2%). The commonest complications were pneumonia 60(9.0%), chronic fatigue 49(7.4%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) 37(5.6%), depression 20(3.0%), systemic infections 19(2.9%), nightmares 15(2.3%) and..