Barcelona 2013
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| Abstract #44 - E-Posters English | ||||
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Session: 50.64: E-Posters English (Poster) on Sunday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Prof John de Wit - University of New South Wales, Australia |
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| Additional Authors: Dr. Jordi Casabona, Sra Cristina Sanclemente, Dra. Anna Esteve, Dra. Victoria Gonzalez, Grupo HIVITS TS, | ||||
| Aim: It is well documented that HIV-related stigma adversely affects the health and wellbeing of people with HIV (PLHIV), erodes their social support and limits access to health services. Stigma also prevents people from enacting behaviours that are critical to their health, including collecting and taking antiretroviral treatments (ART). PLHIV may in particular experience concerns of stigmatization in relation to collecting and taking HIV-medication. This study assesses to what extent PLHIV in Australia experience treatment-related stigma and how this may affect their health and wellbeing. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Data were collected through an online survey for which participants were recruited via advertisements in online and print media. Assessments included a newly developed 5-item measure of HIV treatment-related stigma and Berger et al.?s (2001) HIV stigma scale. Depression, anxiety and stress were assessed using the DASS21. The questionnaire further included Rosenberg?s self-esteem scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and ten items derived from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. We also asked participants to rate their health satisfaction and quality of life, and to indicate number of years since HIV diagnosis, whether they were taking ART and, if so, for how long. | ||||
| Results / Comments: A total of 697 PLHIV from across Australia completed the survey. Most participants were men (95%) and gay or bisexual (91%). On average participants were in their mid-forties (M=43.8; SD=10.3) and had been living with HIV for more than 10 years (M=11.9; SD=8.3). The majority was currently taking ART (82.2%) and participants on average had been on ART for almost ten years (M=9.2; SD=6.6). Almost a third of participants (29.6%) reported experiencing visible HIV-related symptoms Experienced HIV-treatment-related stigma was moderately high (M=3.2, SD=1.1; range 1-5), and significantly higher than HIV-related stigma in general. Multivariate analysis showed that experienced HIV treatment-related stigma was lower when participants were older (=-.09, p<.05), did not have symptoms of HIV infection (=-.11, p < .01), and were more involved with the HIV-positive community (=-.27, p<.001); experienced HIV treatment-related stigma was higher when HIV was a more important aspect of people?s identity (=.14, p<.001). Importantly, experienced HIV treatment-related stigma was associated with more depression (r=.39, p<.001), anxiety (r=.37, p<.001) and stress (r=.37, p<.001), and with lower self-esteem (r=-.39, p < .001), psychological resilience (r=-.30, p<.001), health satisfaction (r=-.18, p<.001) and quality of life (r=-.27, p<.001). Importantly, people who were not on ART (M=3.4, SD=1.1; range 1-5) experienced significantly more HIV-treatment related stigma than people who were on ART (M=3.2, SD=1.1; t(201.2)=2.0, p<.05). | ||||
| Discussion: : PLHIV in Australia experience substantial stigma in relation to collecting and taking HIV treatment and this may adversely affect their health and wellbeing. Negative impacts of stigma include a potential reluctance to initiate treatment. Findings suggest that HIV-related stigma may pose a major barrier to increasing uptake of antiretroviral treatment in affected communities, as part of treatment-as-prevention approaches. Interventions to reduce HIV-related stigma among people not living with HIV and to support PLHIV in effectively coping with stigma continue to be of critical importance the HIV response. | ||||
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