Fred Nalugoda

Biographic Data

ID128745
NAMEFred Nalugoda
GIVEN NAMESFred
FAMILY NAMENalugoda
SIGNATURENALUGODA F
AFFILIATIONSRakai Health Sciences Program
ORCID0000-0001-6119-9293
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS67
TOTAL CITATIONS39
AUTHOR COUNT67
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2004
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX3

  • “Even with one Man, but with many women, you can get cervical cancer”

    Open AccessRobert Bulamba, Fred Nalugoda et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality among women in low-resource settings, with Uganda being disproportionately affected. Despite the availability of screening services in Uganda, uptake remains unacceptably low, yet population-level data on women’s perceptions and experienced barriers to screening remain limited. This hinders the development of targeted community-based interventions for cervical cancer scr…

  • Men’s understanding of three different measures of transactional sex

    Open AccessHolly Nishimura, Neema Nakyanjo et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2026

    Lack of valid and reliable measures and inconsistent transactional sex measurement has resulted in poor understanding of the practice, particularly among men. To improve transactional sex measurement and facilitate comparison across studies, we examined how men comprehend and respond to three common transactional sex measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 25 sexually active adult men in Rakai, Uganda and data were thematically analyse…

  • Building the foundation

    Open AccessAmanda P Miller, Carlos D Rivera Saldana et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    Early and ongoing stakeholder engagement is critical to the development and implementation of scalable behavioral health interventions. Our overarching goal in this implementation research study was to understand and document the process of planning and rolling out Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a transdiagnostic mental health intervention, in Uganda. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) 2.0, we cond…

  • Factors shaping understanding and interpretation of sexual practice survey questions in south-central Uganda

    Open AccessWilliam G Ddaaki, Fred Nalugoda et al.ARTICLEAfrican Journal of AIDS Research2026

    BACKGROUND: Accurate interpretation of survey questions about sensitive matters such as sexual practices is crucial for obtaining reliable data to inform effective public health interventions. Describing sexual practices involves reflecting on acts and contextually attributing meanings. However, participants in sexual behaviour studies may struggle to understand questions, affecting the validity of the data. AIM: We investigated factors that shap…

  • As long as you are married you cannot protect yourself against syphilis”

    Open AccessAmanda P Miller, Stephen Mugamba et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2026

    The study provides practical suggestions for enhancing syphilis awareness, engagement in care, and women's experiences in ANC within a resource-limited, high-burden context. Future efforts should concentrate on extending syphilis education beyond clinics, utilizing Village Health Teams (VHTs) as trusted sources, and identifying barriers to improving healthcare quality for women, informing quality improvement programming

  • Implementation, sustainability, and impact of Common Elements Treatment Approach in Ugandan healthcare facilities

    Open AccessAmanda P Miller, Gertrude Nakigozi et al.ARTICLESSM - Mental Health2025

    The health and social consequences of untreated mental health disorders and heavy alcohol use are substantial, particularly in settings with high HIV-prevalence. Transdiagnostic approaches may offer a more efficient public health response, particularly where behavioral health services are limited. The present study explored the implementation of Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a transdiagnostic intervention, in Western Uganda, from the…

  • Cognitive interviewing for understanding and adaptation of mental health screening instruments among people living with HIV in rakai, Uganda

    Open AccessNora S West, Lydia P Namuganga et al.ARTICLESSM - Mental Health2025

    Background Mental health is conceptualized differently across cultures, making exploration of the understandability of screening tools for the purpose of adaptation critical. Methods In Uganda, we used cognitive interviewing to understand comprehension of and make adaptations to three scales for measuring psychological distress: the Thinking Too Much (TTM) Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), and the Hopkins Symptoms Checkli…

  • Social determinants of hazardous alcohol use in a Ugandan population cohort

    Open AccessLeo Ziegel, Carl Fredrik Sjöland et al.ARTICLEGlobal Health Action2025

    BACKGROUND: There is a limited population-based data on hazardous alcohol use and associated social determinants in many African countries. OBJECTIVES: To examine patterns of hazardous alcohol use across a range of social determinants of health in Uganda, with a particular focus on gender differences. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data collected in 2021-2022 from an open population cohort spanning urban, semi-urban, and rural communiti…

  • Empowering women

    Open AccessElisabet Beseran Valero, Emmanuel Kyasanku et al.ARTICLEGlobal Health Action2025

    BACKGROUND: While the adverse effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on sexual and reproductive health are globally recognized, research in low- and middle-income countries, particularly Uganda, remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the association between past-year IPV and HIV, contraceptive use, and unintended pregnancies among Ugandan women. METHODS: Data from the Africa Medical and Behavioural Sciences Organization collect…

  • Population-level coverage and correlates of enrollment in community-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) refill models following differentiated service delivery scale-up in Africa

    Lipin Lukose, Robert Kairania et al.ARTICLEAIDS Care2025

    Community-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) distribution is a promising strategy to increase HIV treatment accessibility in Africa, yet population-level coverage and correlates of enrollment are understudied. We pooled data from seven Population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys (2020–2023) and used survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression with jackknife variance estimation to identify socio-demographic and clinical correlates of enro…

  • Okweraliikirira and Okwenyamira

    Open AccessNora S West, Rosette Nakubulwa et al.ARTICLECulture Medicine and Psychiatry2025

  • Barriers to Routine Antenatal Syphilis Screening in Uganda

    Open AccessNatalie Saham, Amanda P Miller et al.ARTICLEGlobal Qualitative Nursing Research2025

    Congenital syphilis is preventable through early detection and treatment during pregnancy. Although global syphilis rates have declined, the prevalence of undiagnosed and untreated infections remains high in low- and middle-income countries. In Uganda, national clinical guidelines recommend syphilis screening and treatment at the first antenatal care (ANC) visit, yet coverage remains suboptimal, contributing to ongoing perinatal transmission. As …

  • Examining the Gaps in Existing Policies and Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking in Uganda

    Violet Nkwanzi, D K Evans et al.ARTICLEJournal of Social Service Research2025References: 42

  • HIV epidemiologic trends among occupational groups in Rakai, Uganda

    Open AccessVictor O Popoola, Joseph Kagaayi et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    Certain occupations have been associated with heightened risk of HIV acquisition and spread in sub-Saharan Africa, including female bar and restaurant work and male transportation work. However, data on changes in population prevalence of HIV infection and HIV incidence within occupations following mass scale-up of African HIV treatment and prevention programs is very limited. We evaluated prospective data collected between 1999 and 2016 from the…

  • Estimation of cause-specific mortality in Rakai, Uganda, using verbal autopsy 1999-2019

    Open AccessDorean Nabukalu, Júlia Almeida Calazans et al.ARTICLEGlobal Health Action2024

    BACKGROUND: There are scant data on the causes of adult deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. We estimated the level and trends in adult mortality, overall and by different causes, in rural Rakai, Uganda, by age, sex, and HIV status. OBJECTIVES: To estimate and analyse adult cause-specific mortality trends in Rakai, Uganda. METHODOLOGY: Mortality information by cause, age, sex, and HIV status was recorded in the Rakai Community Cohort study using verbal …

  • Use of mobile phones to collect data on Covid-19

    Open AccessRobert Ssekubugu, Anthony Ndyanabo et al.ARTICLEGlobal Health Action2024

    During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, we deployed a rapid, mobile phone-based survey to assess access and participation rates when using mobile phones to collect data on COVID-19 in Rakai, south-central Uganda. We sampled prior Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS) participants based on HIV status using mobile phone contacts. We administered a 30-minute phone-based interview to consenting participants to assess their knowledge about different aspe…

  • Dissolution of transactional sex relationships during Covid-19

    Holly Nishimura, Holly M Nishimura et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2024

    The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent mitigation measures led to social disruption and negative economic shocks for a large proportion of Uganda's population. The social and economic consequences of COVID-19 on Ugandan men's sexual behaviours, including transactional sex relationships, are unclear. We conducted in-depth interviews between November 2021-February 2022 with 26 men in a high HIV prevalence region of Uganda. Data were analysed thematic…

  • What’s driving girls’ adolescent marriage decline in Rakai, Uganda? The interplay between adolescent pregnancies and social determinants, 1999 – 2018

    Open AccessEsther Spindler, Hoffman et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2024

    Few studies have sought to untangle the influence of social determinants and pregnancy on adolescent marriage declines. Using longitudinal data from 15- to 17-year-old girls in the Rakai Community Cohort Survey, we assessed how education, socio-economic status, orphanhood and pregnancy contributed to trends in adolescent marriage. We examined descriptive trends and logistic regressions of the associations between social determinants and adolescen…

  • Prevalence and predictors of use of long-term and short-acting reversible contraceptives among women of reproductive age in Wakiso and Hoima districts, Uganda

    Open AccessMalachi Ochieng Arunda, Babirye Mary Estellah et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2023

    Modern contraceptive use has increased globally, but unmet needs persist in low- and middle-income countries. This study in Uganda aimed to examine the prevalence and factors influencing the use of short-acting reversible contraceptives (SARC) like pills and long-term methods such as intrauterine devices. Limited evidence exists on the use of SARC and long-term methods in Uganda. Data from the Africa Medical and Behavioural Sciences Organization …

  • Nearly half of adults with symptoms of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) did not seek clinical care

    Open AccessYasmin P Ogale, Caitlin E Kennedy et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2023

    Understanding treatment-seeking behavior is critical to the treatment and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), yet current data on STI treatment seeking in low-resource settings is rare. This population-based study aimed to describe STI treatment-seeking behavior and identify factors associated with seeking treatment at a clinic among adults with STI-related symptoms in rural Uganda. The STI prevalence study (STIPS) conducted a surv…

  • In the era of universal test and treat in Uganda, recent intimate partner violence is not associated with subsequent ART use or viral suppression

    Amanda P Miller, Eileen V Pitpitan et al.ARTICLEAIDS Care2023

    Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been associated with delays throughout the HIV care continuum. This study explored prospective associations between experiences of past-year IPV and two HIV care outcomes in the context of current universal test and treat guidelines using two consecutive rounds of an ongoing HIV surveillance study conducted in the Rakai region of Uganda. Longitudinal logistic regression models examined associations between IPV,…

  • The negative health spillover effects of universal primary education policy

    Open AccessErin V Moore, Jennifer S Hirsch et al.ARTICLEGlobal Public Health2023

    Scholars of global health have embraced universal education as a structural intervention to prevent HIV. Yet the costs of school, including fees and other ancillary costs, create an economic burden for students and their families, indicating both the challenge of realising the potential of education for preventing HIV and the ways in which the desire for education may produce vulnerabilities to HIV for those struggling to afford it. To explore th…

  • From ‘no problem’ to ‘a lot of difficulties’

    Open AccessRuth Young, Caitlin E Kennedy et al.ARTICLEHealth Policy and Planning2023

    Migration is increasingly common in Africa, especially for employment. Migrants may face additional barriers to accessing health care, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and treatment, compared with long-term residents. Exploring migrants’ experiences with health services can provide insights to inform the design of health programmes. In this study, we used qualitative methods to understand migrants’ barriers to health servic…

  • Gendered access to digital capital and mobile phone ownership among young people in Rakai, Uganda

    Alyssa L Basmajian, Philip Kreniske et al.ARTICLECulture Health & Sexuality2023

    This article examines how gendered access to digital capital-in the form of the social and economic resources needed to own and use a mobile phone-is connected to key adult milestones, such as securing employment and engaging in romantic relationships. Descriptive statistical analysis of 11,030 young people aged 15-24 in Rakai, Uganda indicated that men were more likely to own mobile phones than women. Analysis of qualitative interviews with youn…

  • Identifying longitudinal patterns of HIV treatment (dis)engagement and re-engagement from oral histories of virologically unsuppressed persons in Uganda

    Open AccessJoseph G Rosen, Neema Nakyanjo et al.ARTICLESocial Science & Medicine2023References: 68