Amsterdam 2015
Menu
AIDSImpact.com
Conference Details
Authors
International Committee
Plenary Speakers
Presenting Speakers
Programme
Sessions
Scientific Committee
Acknowledgements
| Abstract #2031 - Internalised and externalised stigma | ||||
|
Session: 55.2: Internalised and externalised stigma (Oral poster discussion) on Friday @ 12.30-13.30 in Poster room 1 Chaired by Poul Rohleder, Yan Guo Authors: Presenting Author: Ms Chen Zhang - Vanderbilt University, United States |
||||
| Additional Authors: | ||||
| Aim: Stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) has been well recognized and considered as a major hamper for PLWHA receiving timely interventions and treatments. A few qualitative studies have indicated that the way how PLWHA contracted with HIV affected the type and degree of stigma that they experienced. However, there are no studies have quantitatively examined the impact of different routes of infection on specific types of stigma against PLWHA. In China, 104,000 new HIV cases of has been diagnosed in 2014, a 14% increase compared to the past year. Yet, the predominant stigmatizing attitudes against PHWHA may lead to avoidance of health care services and exacerbating their quality of life and well-being dramatically. Our hypothesis is that people who contract HIV from “non-blamable” routes (e.g., blood transfusion, sex with stable partners) will have less stigmatized feeling compared to people who contract HIV from “more blamable” routes (e.g., sharing needles to inject drug, sex with commercial sex workers). | ||||
| Method / Issue: We conducted the current study in Guangxi province of China from 2012 to 2013, where it ranks 2nd for its cumulative HIV cases in China. We employed a cross-sectional study design and recruited 3,002 PLWHA by randomly ing 10% of reported cases from each of the 12 cities with the top HIV-cases based upon the surveillance data. A total of 2,987 completed the self-administered survey. Multivariate regression models were used to assess the association between routes of infection and types of stigma whiling controlling for participants’ demographics, psychosocial well-being, substance use behaviors, and co-infection status. We further explored interaction effects by gender. Missing values was address by a multiple imputation strategy. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Of the total sample, 63% were male with an average age of 42.9 years (ranged between 18 and 88). The most commonly reported of HIV infection route was contracting from “sex with stable partners” (28.7%), followed by “sex with commercial sex workers” (21.6%), “don’t know” (16.4%), “sharing needles to inject drugs” (15.8%), “sex with casual sex partners” (15.7%), “blood transfusion or operation” (1.0%), and others (0.8%). Multivariate regression models revealed that contraction from commercial sex behaviors increase the perceived (ß=0.46, 95%CI=0.02, 0.90) and internalized stigma (ß=0.60, 95%CI=0.09, 1.10), while sharing needle for injecting drugs increased the perceived (ß=0.65, 95%CI=0.07, 1.22) and enacted stigma (ß=0.09, 95%CI=0.02, 0.16) after controlling for relevant confounders. After conducting multiple imputation, the association between the route of contraction and types of stigma retained except for the internalized stigma increased among people who reported “don’t know” (p<0.05). | ||||
| Discussion: The current study is one of the first studies to quantify the relationship between route of infection and stigma among PLWHA in China. Our findings support our initial hypotheses. A better understanding of the association between routes of infection and the stigma they experience will help health professionals and policy makers to develop tailored intervention strategies to help PLWHA to tackle with different types of stigmatized feelings. This study paves the way for strong actions on reducing the prevalent stigma against PLWHA in China as well as other areas with similar cultural context. | ||||
| Go Back | ||||