Perceived stigma among discharged patients of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: A latent profile analysis.

Background: Perceived stigma has greatly influenced the life quality of the COVID-19 patients who recovered and were discharged (RD hereafter). It is essential to understand COVID-19 stigma of RD and its related risk factors. The current study aims to identify the characteristics of perceived COVID-19 stigma in RD using latent profile analysis (LPA), to explore its psycho-social influencing factors, and to determine the cut-off point of the stigma scale using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among COVID-19 RD in 13 communities in Jianghan District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China from June 10 to July 25, 2021, enrolling total 1,297 participants. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, COVID-19 perceived stigma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, sleep disorder, fatigue, resilience, social support, and peace of mind. LPA was performed to identify different profiles of perceived COVID-19 stigma level. Univariate analysis and multinominal logistic regression analysis were conducted to explore the influencing factors in different profiles. ROC analyses was carried out to identify the cut-off value of perceived stigma. Results: Among the participants, three profiles of perceived stigma were identified: "low perceived COVID-19 stigma" (12.8%), "moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma" (51.1%), and "severe perceived COVID-19 stigma" (36.1%). Multinominal logistic regression analysis revealed that older age, living with other people, anxiety, and sleep disorder were positively associated with moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma, while higher educational level was negatively associated with moderate perceived COVID-19 stigma. Female, older age, living with other people, anxiety, and sleep disorder were positively associated with severe perceived COVID-19 stigma, while higher educational level, social support, and peace of mind were negatively associated with severe perceived COVID-19 stigma. ROC curve of the Short Version of COVID-19 Stigma Scale (CSS-S) for screening perceived COVID-19 stigma showed that the optimal cut-off value was ≥ 20. Conclusion: The study focuses on the issue of perceived COVID-19 stigma and its psycho-socio influencing factors. It provides evidence for implementing relevant psychological interventions to COVID-19 RD.

Stigma, Sociodemographic Factors, and Clinical Factors Associated with Psychological Distress among COVID-19 Survivors during the Convalescence Period: A Multi-Centre Study in Malaysia.

High rates of psychological distress among COVID-19 survivors and stigmatisation have been reported in both early and late convalescence. This study aimed to compare the severity of psychological distress and to determine the associations among sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, stigma, and psychological distress among COVID-19 survivors across two different cohorts at two different time points. Data were collected cross-sectionally in two groups at one month and six months post-hospitalisation among COVID-19 patient from three hospitals in Malaysia. This study assessed psychological distress and the level of stigma using the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) and the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue (EMIC) stigma scale, respectively. At one month after discharge, significantly lower psychological distress was found among retirees (B = -2.207, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = -4.139 to -0.068, p = 0.034), those who received up to primary education (B = -2.474, 95% CI = -4.500 to -0.521, p = 0.014), and those who had an income of more than RM 10,000 per month (B = -1.576, 95% CI = -2.714 to -0.505, p = 0.006). Moreover, those with a history of psychiatric illness [one month: (B = 6.363, 95% CI = 2.599 to 9.676, p = 0.002), six months: (B = 2.887, CI = 0.469-6.437, p = 0.038)] and sought counselling services [one month: (B = 1.737, 95% CI = 0.385 to 3.117, p = 0.016), six months: (B = 1.480, CI = 0.173-2.618, p = 0.032)] had a significantly higher severity of psychological distress at one month and six months after discharge from the hospital. The perceived stigma of being infected with COVID-19 contributed to greater severity of psychological distress. (B = 0.197, CI = 0.089-0.300, p = 0.002). Different factors may affect psychological distress at different periods of convalescence after a COVID-19 infection. A persistent stigma contributed to psychological distress later in the convalescence period.

Predictors of COVID-19 Stress and COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance among Adolescents in Ghana.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to ravage world economies, and with its recent mutations, countries worldwide are finding ways of ramping up their vaccination programmes. This cross-sectional design study, therefore, examined the predictors of COVID-19 stress and COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among adolescents in Ghana. A total of 817 participants were conveniently selected to respond to measures on fear of COVID-19, perceived stigma from COVID-19, self-stigma from COVID-19, believing COVID-19 information, COVID-19 infection prevention behaviours, COVID-19 stress, and COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. It was found that females believed COVID-19 information and accepted COVID-19 vaccination more than males did. Moreover, there were significant relationships between the majority of the COVID-19-related variables. Furthermore, fear of COVID-19, self-stigma from COVID-19, and COVID-19 infection prevention behaviours were found to be significant predictors of COVID-19 stress. Additionally, believing COVID-19 information, danger and contamination fears (a subscale of COVID-19 stress), and traumatic stress (a subscale of COVID-19 stress) were significant predictors of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance. These findings imply that different factors influence different COVID-19 variable. Therefore, careful considerations and research should be employed by health authorities and policymakers in preparing COVID-19 information to target different age groups and for different COVID-19 purposes.

Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Among Patients, Their Relatives and Healthy Residents in Zhangjiajie.

Introduction: In July 2021, Zhangjiajie City became the new epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. Aside from the physical manifestations of COVID-19, patients are also victims of severe social stigmatization. Stigma affects not only COVID-19 patients or survivors, but also individuals associated with them. This study aims to describe and assess the COVID-19-related stigma between patients, their relatives, and healthy local residents. Methods: The study included 43 COVID-19 patients, 68 relatives, and 75 healthy residents from Zhangjiajie. Demographic data was collected, including gender, age, marital status, and educational level. Stigma attitudes toward COVID-19 were measured using the Stigma Scale and Social Distance Scale. Frequencies and percentages were described for each item of the scales, and differences among the three groups were examined using the chi-square test. Results: With regards to personal and perceived stigma, most participants agreed that patients with COVID-19 "could snap out of the problem" and that "they were dangerous." For social distance, over 30% of participants from the three groups agreed with the item "unwillingness to marry into the family of someone with COVID-19." In all groups, there were significant statistical differences in the belief that "the problem is not a real medical illness" and the desire to "spend the evening socializing." Conclusion: Although the outbreak was well-contained in Zhangjiajie, stigmatizing attitudes toward COVID-19 and desire for social distance to such patients were common among patients, their relatives and healthy local residents. Our study's results suggest that public education, anti-stigma interventions, and policies are necessary for people living in Zhangjiajie in order to effectively curtail the spread of COVID-19 and provide a useful strategy for a tourist city like Zhangjiajie to recover sooner from economic decline.

A Rasch Analysis of Perceived Stigma of Covid-19 among Nurses in Indonesia Questionnaire

This study is the first to investigate and validate the psychometric properties of the perceived stigma of the Covid-19 questionnaire among nurses in Indonesia. The respondents in the study were 2156 nurses from various regions in Indonesia (34 provinces), consisting of 613 males (28.4%) and 1543 females (71.6%). The number of nurses consisted of 300 respondents (13.9%) from the western region of Indonesia, 1825 respondents (84.6%) from the central region of Indonesia, and 31 respondents (1.4%) from the eastern region of Indonesia. The Rating Scale Model used to investigate the questionnaire's psychometric properties. The analysis results showed that the perceived stigma questionnaire met all the psychometric aspects (unidimensionality, item fit analysis, item validity, diagnostic rating scale, and reliability). Rasch Model analysis showed a value that meets all aspects measured criterion limit. Therefore, this perception stigma questionnaire can measure the perceived stigma of Covid-19 among nurses in Indonesia.