Hepatitis B Viral Load Testing in Ugandan Antenatal Care, 10 Hospitals

181 pregnant women were provided HBV DNA testing in a two-phase study across 10 hospitals in nine regions of Uganda. The dataset, created by Linda Kisaakye Nabitaka and last updated in May 2026, contains quantitative data extracted from facility registers and qualitative feedback from study teams. It assesses the operational feasibility, accessibility, and cost of implementing point-of-care Xpert HBV DNA testing in antenatal care settings.

Use Cases

• Evaluate the operational feasibility of point-of-care viral load testing based on the study's assessment of processing rates and result turnaround times.
• Analyze cost-effectiveness of decentralized versus centralized HBV testing based on the reported per-test cost comparison.
• Model eligibility for antiviral prophylaxis among pregnant women based on the reported percentage with viral loads exceeding 200,000 IU/mL.
• Assess health system integration challenges based on reported issues like kit stockouts and competing laboratory priorities.

Strengths

• Data is derived from a study at 10 high-volume hospitals across nine regions of Uganda, providing multi-site operational insights.
• The Xpert HBV DNA assay demonstrated full diagnostic concordance with the reference COBAS Taqman platform.
• Cost analysis is included, showing a per-test cost of USD 15.37, comparable to centralized testing.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is small at 246.8 KB, indicating a limited scope of quantitative records.

Provenance

Source

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Collection Method

Quantitative data were extracted from facility registers; qualitative data consisted of feedback from study teams.

Time Range

The study period is not specified, but the dataset was last updated in May 2026.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-04 17:38:40; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Uganda, specifically 10 high-volume hospitals across nine regions.