Abstract
BackgroundIndia has around 2.27 million adults living with HIV/AIDS who face several challenges in the medical management of their disease. Stigma, discrimination and psychosocial issues are prevalent. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of severe stigma and to study the association between this, depression and the quality of life (QOL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Tamil Nadu.MethodsThis was a community based cross sectional study carried out in seven districts of Tamil Nadu, India, among 400 PLHA in the year 2009. The following scales were used for stigma, depression and quality of life, Berger scale, Major Depression Inventory (MDI) scale and the WHO BREF scale. Both Stigma and QOL were classified as none, moderate or severe/poor based on the tertile cut off values of the scale scores. Depression was classified as none, mild, moderate and severe. Logistic regression analyses were performed to study the risk factors.ResultsTwenty seven per cent of PLHA had experienced severe forms of stigma. These were severe forms of personalized stigma (28.8%), negative self-image (30.3%), perceived public attitude (18.2%) and disclosure concerns (26%). PLHA experiencing severe depression were 12% and those experiencing poor quality of life were 34%. Poor QOL reported in the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains was 42.5%, 40%, 51.2% and 34% respectively. PLHA who had severe personalized stigma and negative self-image had 3.4 (1.6-7.0) and 2.1 (1.0-4.1) times higher risk of severe depression respectively (p < .001). PLHA who had severe depression had experienced 2.7(1.1-7.7) times significantly poorer QOL.ConclusionsSevere forms of stigma were equivalently prevalent among all the categories of PLHA. However, PLHA who had experienced severe depression had only developed poor QOL. A high level of social support was associated with a high level of QOL.
Highlights
India has around 2.27 million adults living with HIV/AIDS who face several challenges in the medical management of their disease
Sampling strategy The study was conducted in seven Intensive Intervention Districts of the USAID supported AIDS Prevention and Control Project (APAC) in Tamil Nadu
This study found that accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) services was associated with severe stigma and poor quality of life (QOL) which could be attributed to the discrimination shown against non-literate and economically poor people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) at the facilities [10,18,37,38]
Summary
India has around 2.27 million adults living with HIV/AIDS who face several challenges in the medical management of their disease. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of severe stigma and to study the association between this, depression and the quality of life (QOL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in Tamil Nadu. A study showed that both PLHA and leprosy-affected people faced a substantial burden of internalized and perceived stigma, with the former reporting a significantly higher level [8]. The factors that contribute to HIV stigma and discrimination include, fear of transmission, fear of suffering and death and the burden of caring for PLHA [13. Prevents HIV positive persons from disclosing their status to family, care providers, and sexual partners which contributes to nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy [4,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
