Barcelona 2013
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| Abstract #472 - Health Care Provision | ||||
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Session: 33.5: Health Care Provision (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 14.30-16.00 in Teatre Chaired by Araceli Rousaud, Sheana Bull Authors: Presenting Author: Prof Maria Jose Fuster Ruiz de Apodaca - SEISIDA, Spain |
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| Additional Authors: Sra. Rosa de Dios, Sra. Lourdes Mestres, Sra. Alicia Lluva, | ||||
| Aim: (a) to determine the degree of stigma towards people with HIV in the Spanish healthcare setting and (b) to analyze the variables that affect attitudes of rejection | ||||
| Method / Issue: 1695 professionals from the healthcare setting participated in the study. Among them, 31% were from primary care, 53% were from specialized care, and 12% from other areas. Of the sample, 40% were doctors, 36% were nurses, and 9% were auxiliary nursing staff. 75% were female. Mean age was 42.78 (SD = 10.97) years. A survey was designed to tap the following variables: (a) stigma in daily life situations. This variable was measured by means of items from the SEISIDA survey (2012); (b) stigma in the health context: attitudes and discrimination intention. To measure this type of stigma, we adapted items from the AIDS Phobia Scale and that of Li et al. (2009); and (c) variables related to knowledge about HIV and its transmission pathways, perception of risk of infection at work, perceived self-efficacy to deal with people with HIV, and degree of contact with people with HIV. We also collected sociodemographic and religious variables, and political ideology. Two means were used to collect the questionnaires (1) distribution of the printed version in various hospitals and primary healthcare centers, and (2) on-line distribution by e-mail. The first method yielded 52.6% of the questionnaires and 47.4% were obtained through the on-line version. | ||||
| Results / Comments: 10% of the interviewed professionals would attempt to avoid contact with people with HIV in some everyday situation. Attributions of blame towards people with HIV for having the infection did not exceed 6%. Negative attitudes and beliefs as well as discrimination in the healthcare setting had a very low mean. Analysis of difference of means between men and women showed that men had more knowledge of HIV, higher frequency of interaction with people with HIV at work, and a higher degree of proximity to these people in daily life. Women held more erroneous beliefs about transmission pathways. Likewise, we observed differences between primary and specialized care. In the latter case, the perception of risk of infection at work was higher and so was the frequency of interaction with people with HIV, perceived self-efficacy, and erroneous beliefs about transmission pathways. In this area, blaming people with HIV was more frequent. Regression analysis showed that the variables that predict a less discriminant behavior towards people with HIV in the healthcare setting were: age, discomfort about people with HIV in daily life, erroneous beliefs about transmission pathways (in these three variables, lower scores indicate less discrimination), positive attitudes and beliefs in the health context, perceived self-efficacy, and frequency of interaction with people with HIV (in these three variables, higher scores indicate less discrimination). | ||||
| Discussion: the levels of discrimination towards people with HIV in the Spanish healthcare setting are not high. However, increasing health professionals' training and correcting their erroneous beliefs are key variables to improve their attitudes towards people with HIV. This study was carried out by SEISIDA and granted by Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality | ||||
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