ABSTRACT
Background: Quality of life [QoL] is a broad construct and can be influenced by many factors. Perceived stigma is inevitable in patients with HIV. Therefore, it is an important factor to understand their QoL
Objectives: The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the perceived stigma among HIV-positive women and their QoL in Shiraz, Iran
Patients and Methods: In this quantitative study, 110 HIV-positive women were selected by simple random sampling method. A questionnaire was designed and used as a tool for data collection. The questionnaire included demographic information, internal stigma scale, and the ACTG short form-21 [SF-21] for measuring QoL. Data were collected from March to August 2015 and analyzed using t- test, Pearson's correlations, and the multiple regression test with the SPSS software version 21
Results: The mean age of the women was 37.86 +/- 9.03 years. Most of the participants were infected with HIV/AIDS through sex with their spouse [78.2%]. About one-third of the women had physical symptoms [29.1%] of the HIV disease. The prevalence rate of perceived stigma in the sample was 69.7%. Quality of life was significantly different in terms of employment status, emotional support and physical symptoms [P < 0.05]
Conclusions: A higher level of perceived stigma among HIV-positive women is associated with a considerable decrease in all QoL dimensions. Thus, more efforts should be considered to reduce the perceived stigma and improve the QoL of such patients
ABSTRACT
Despite the success of developed countries in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, the disease is expanding in developing countries where an unfavorable attitude exists among people, health professionals and employees. This study aimed to assess the stigmatized attitude among health care providers toward people living with HIV [PLWHA]. The study is a cross-sectional survey. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire. The study sample included 575 health care providers of public and private hospitals in Shiraz. The data were gathered using a structured questionnaire in spring 2014. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21. The most dominant attitude of the health care providers toward HIV/AIDS patients was related to fear [42.42%]. According to the results of this study, there was a significant relationship between stigmatized attitude of the health care providers and their religious beliefs, society stigmatized attitude, and knowledge of transmission routes. The relationship between social stigmatized attitude of health care providers and their knowledge of transmission routes, with their willingness to provide services to patients is significant, as well [P<0.05]. 39.6% and 46.2% of the respondents preferred not to provide services to the prostitutes and homosexual patients. Fear of contamination and social stigmatized attitude are the main impediments to dealing with patients and providing services to them. Hence, it seems that creating an effective knowledge about transmission and correcting the socio-cultural beliefs of health providers are two key strategies to tackle this problem