Validation and Abbreviation of an HIV Stigma Scale in an Adult Spanish-Speaking Population in Urban Peru

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Berger HIV Stigma Scale in an urban Spanish-speaking population in Peru and create a valid and reliable abridged version of the scale. Participants were HIV-infected adults enrolled in an observational study to examine the effectiveness of a community-based antiretroviral therapy adherence intervention. Approximately half of participants were female, and the median age at enrollment was 30.5 years. The Spanish version of the full HIV Stigma Scale was internally reliable, demonstrated good construct validity, and was sensitive to change over time. The full HIV Stigma Scale was abbreviated by removing items that impaired subscale internal reliability, did not correlate with other subscale items, or demonstrated low factor correlations. The resulting abridged scale contained 21 of the 40 original items and revealed properties similar to the full Spanish version.

Measuring HIV- and AIDS-Related Stigma and Discrimination in Nicaragua: Results From a Community-Based Study

“…In the Nicaraguan context females show greater levels of insufficient HIV-related knowledge and a higher self-perception of HIV risk than their male counterparts (Ugarte et al, 2013). In agreement with previous research, the current study confirms that lack of knowledge about HIV was associated with negative attitudes and discriminatory practices towards PLHIV (Franke et al, 2010;Garcia et al, 2008;Mahajan et al, 2008;Yang et al, 2006). Effective strategies to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination are needed to change societal beliefs by increasing the public's HIV-related knowledge, reducing misconceptions about HIV infection and transmission, and correcting inaccurate HIV beliefs.…”

“…As the literature demonstrates (Fortenberry et al, 2002;Franke et al, 2010;Kalichman & Simbayi, 2003;Nyblade et al, 2011;Pollini et al, 2011), AIDS-related stigma creates barriers to seeking health services, including voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) and community-based antiretroviral therapy (ART). Our findings are consistent with previous assumptions about the role of stigma.…”

“…Expressions of stigma are social rejection, intolerance, avoidance, discrimination, stereotyping, and violence (Parker & Aggleton, 2003), which are all manifest in developing countries (Genberg et al, 2008; Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2007). In the Latin American and Caribbean region, stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS represent a broad, significant obstacle to an effective response to HIV (Castro & Farmer, 2005;Franke, Muñoz, & Finnegan, 2010;Garcia, Koyama, & Grupo de Estudos em População, Sexualidade e Aids, 2008;Infante et al, 2006;Simon, Siniora, & Sprague, 2010). Historically, the two have been deeply linked to social inequalities, particularly with regard to gender, education, living status, and sexuality (Castro & Farmer, 2005;Garcia et al, 2008).…”

Estigma relacionado a VIH/SIDA y no adherencia al tratamiento antirretroviral - réplica

“…Debido a las dificultades para hallar datos de prevalencia de estigma relacionado a VIH, y teniendo en cuenta que este suele medirse de forma cuantitativa, se calculó la prevalencia de estigma moderado y alto (mayor a 52 puntos en la escala de Berger) utilizando los datos de un estudio realizado en Perú (2) donde se halló que la mediana del puntaje de la escala Berger era 56, y por ello se consideró que un aproximado de 60% tendría más de 52 puntos en la escala. Como mencionan los autores, el cálculo del tamaño de muestra no fue el adecuado para un estudio de asociación.…”

“…No obstante, el SMAQ solo se considera válido cuando la pregunta 5 o 6 es contestada afirmativamente (5) . Cabe resaltar que esta encuesta fue utilizada anteriormente en nuestro país y obtuvo una prevalencia de 35,9% de no adherencia; sin embargo, en esa oportunidad la variable resultado también fue medida con carga viral y otros datos de laboratorio (2) .…”