Definitive SARS-CoV-2 Infection & COVID-19 Vaccination in Movement Disorder Patients in Ethiopia

Background: The magnitude of the SARS-COV-2 infection and COVID 19 vaccine uptake in patients with neurological disorders such as movement disorders (MD) including Parkinson’s disease is largely unknown in Ethiopia. There is urgency in understanding the burden of COVID-19 infection and vaccination uptake and associated factors in African patients with MD.Method: An observational cross sectional facility based study was conducted at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Convenient sampling technique was used and the study was conducted between March 01, 2022 and April 30, 2022. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used.Results: A total of 179 patients with movement disorders were included for the analysis. The median age was 62.0 (IQR 50 – 70) years. Males accounted for 62.6%. The median duration of illness was 5.0 (IQR 2 – 10) years. The commonest MD was Parkinson’s disease (61.4%) followed by essential tremor, ataxia syndromes, and dystonia syndromes respectively. Hypertension was the most common comorbid disorder, followed by other comorbid neurological disorders and diabetes mellitus. Five (2.8%) patients have HIV infection. The infection rate of definitive SARS-COV-2 was 9.5%. COVID 19 vaccine uptake was 46.9%. Hyperkinetic MD was associated with COVID-19 infection when adjusted for age, gender, economic status, and duration of MD diagnosis (AOR 3.53 95% CI 1.14 – 10.87 p=0.03). Comorbid hypertension was positively associated with COVID vaccination (AOR 2.04 95% CI 1.01 – 14.13 p=0.04). However, lower educational status was associated with COVID vaccine hesitancy (COR 0.48 95% CI 0.25 – 0.89 p=0.02).Conclusion: The present study shows high burden of definitive SARS-COV-2 infection and low COVID vaccine uptake in movement disorders patients attending TASH. Hyperkinetic MD was associated SARS-COV-2 infection. Lower educational level was independent predictor of low vaccine uptake.