Effects of media, interpersonal communication and religious attitudes on HIV-related stigma in Tehran, Iran

Aghaei, Atefeh; Mohraz, Minoo; Shamshirband, Shahaboddin

doi:10.1016/j.imu.2020.100291

Cited by 21 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Previous studies have also found that exposure to social media could help reduce HIV-related stigma [3,7,45]. However, we did not find significant associations between social media use / online mental services and COVID-19-related stigma.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 95%

COVID-19-related stigma and its sociodemographic correlates: a comparative study

et al. 2021

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Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is closely associated with physical and mental health problems; however, little is known about the severity of stigma caused by COVID-19 among its survivors. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare differences in stigma experiences of COVID-19 survivors versus healthy controls after the COVID-19 outbreak peak in China. Methods This cross-sectional study comprised 154 COVID-19 survivors and 194 healthy controls recruited through consecutive and convenience sampling methods, respectively. COVID-19 related stigma was measured by the Social Impact Scale (SIS). Stigma differences between the two groups were compared with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and a generalized linear model (GLM) was used to identify independent correlates of COVID-19-related stigma in this study. Results Compared with healthy controls, COVID-19 survivors reported more overall stigma (F(1,347) = 60.82, p < 0.001), and stigma in domains of social rejection (F(1,347) = 56.54, p < 0.001), financial insecurity (F(1,347) = 19.96, p < 0.001), internalized shame (F(1,347) = 71.40, p < 0.001) and social isolation (F(1,347) = 34.73, p < 0.001). Status as a COVID-19 survivor, having family members infected with COVID-19, being married, economic loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, and depressive symptoms were positively associated with higher overall stigma levels (all p values < 0.05). Conclusion COVID-19-related stigma is commonly experienced among COVID-19 survivors even though the outbreak has been well-contained in China. Routine assessment of stigma experiences should be conducted on COVID-19 survivors and appropriate psychological assistance, public education, and anti-stigma campaigns and policies should be enforced to reduce stigma within this vulnerable subpopulation.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 95%

COVID-19-related stigma and its sociodemographic correlates: a comparative study

et al. 2021

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“…Stigma and discrimination appeared to be the most general barrier to ART adherence and maintenance of care. Also, Other studies in America (Earnshaw et al, 2013;Darlington and Hutson, 2017;Gunn et al, 2021;Yabes et al, 2021), Middle East (Aghaei et al, 2020;Ballouz et al, 2020;Moradzadeh and Zamanian, 2021), Asia (Ekstrand et al, 2018;Ekstrand et al, 2020;Stephens and Surjan, 2020), Sub Saharan Africa (Jones et al, 2020;Chimoyi et al, 2021;MacLean and Wetherall, 2021;Madiba et al, 2021), and Europe (Vaughan et al, 2020;Hedge et al, 2021) have found stigma to be a significant contributor to non-adherence. In Pakistan, the stigma of HIV/AIDS is enormous (Ahmed et al, 2019;Ahmed et al, 2021a;Ahmed et al, 2021d).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Barriers and Enablers for Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among People Living With HIV/AIDS in the Era of COVID-19: A Qualitative Study From Pakistan

et al. 2022

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Background: With the increased availability of safe antiretroviral therapy (ART) in recent years, achieving optimal adherence and patient retention is becoming the biggest challenge for people living with HIV (PLWH). Care retention is influenced by several socioeconomic, socio-cultural, and government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we aim to explore barriers and facilitators to adherence to ART among PLWH in Pakistan in general and COVID-19 pandemic related in particular.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 25 PLWH from December 2020 to April 2021 in the local language (Urdu) at the ART centre of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan. Interviews were audio-recorded in the local Urdu language, and bilingual expert (English, Urdu) transcribed verbatim, coded for themes and sub-themes, and analyzed using a phenomenological approach for thematic content analysis.Results: Stigma and discrimination, fear of HIV disclosure, economic constraints, forgetfulness, religion (Ramadan, spiritual healing), adverse drug reactions, lack of social support, alternative therapies, and COVID-19-related lock-down and fear of lesser COVID-19 care due to HIV associated stigma were identified as barriers affecting the retention in HIV care. At the same time, positive social support, family responsibilities, use of reminders, the beneficial impact of ART, and initiation of telephone consultations, courier delivery, and long-term delivery of antiretrovirals during COVID-19 were identified as facilitators of HIV retention.Conclusion: Improving adherence and retention is even more challenging due to COVID-19; therefore, it requires the integration of enhanced access to treatment with improved employment and social support. HIV care providers must understand these reported factors comprehensively and treat patients accordingly to ensure the continuum of HIV care. A coordinated approach including different stakeholders is required to facilitate patient retention in HIV care and consequently improve the clinical outcomes of PLWH.

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“…The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.75 for all items (α = 0.75). The answer to each item is one of the options "strongly disagree", "disagree", "no idea", "agree" and "strongly agree" ( 22 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Stigma among Health Care Workers in Contact with COVID-19 Patients

Zandifar¹,

Badrfam

Khonsari

et al. 2020

IJPS

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Objective: The global spread of COVID-19 has caused great psychological stress in health care workers (HCWs). This study aims to assess the prevalence and associated factors of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and stigma among health care workers (HCWs) who are involved in treating COVID-19 patients. This study was conducted as part of studies related to assessing the mental health status of HCWs in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Overall, in this cross sectional study, 894 HCWs working in 9 general hospitals in Alborz province, Iran, in the field of diagnostic and treatment care of patients with COVID-19 were selected using multistage sampling method. PTSS and its subscales, including intrusion, avoidance, and hyper vigilance were obtained based on the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-8 Item validated questionnaire. Information on Stigma's perception among HCWs was also obtained based on a questionnaire adopted from the HIV Stigma Scale. Predictors of PTSS and Stigma's perception among HCWs were assessed using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Overall, 71.4% of the participants were women and 46.9% were front line staff. The prevalence of intrusion, avoidance, and hyper vigilance symptoms was 44.2% (95% CI: 40.8-47.6), 31. 8% (95% CI: 28.8-35.0), and 37.7% (95% CI: 34.5-41.0), respectively. A strong and positive significant correlation was found between stigma score with PTSD total score (coefficient: 0.83) and its components. In multivariate logistic regression model, female gender was associated with intrusion (OR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.03-2.06) and avoidance (OR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.147-2.417) and working in frontline increased the odds of intrusion (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.06-1.97) and hyper vigilance (OR: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.03-1.91). Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSS is high among HCWs during COVID-19 pandemic and it is associated with some demographic characteristics of HCWs. This situation should be considered by health policymakers so that while trying to control the disease, the mental health status of this group of personnel should be given much attention.

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Effects of media, interpersonal communication and religious attitudes on HIV-related stigma in Tehran, Iran

Cited by 21 publications

References 56 publications

COVID-19-related stigma and its sociodemographic correlates: a comparative study

COVID-19-related stigma and its sociodemographic correlates: a comparative study

Barriers and Enablers for Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy Among People Living With HIV/AIDS in the Era of COVID-19: A Qualitative Study From Pakistan

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Stigma among Health Care Workers in Contact with COVID-19 Patients

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