Factors related to perceived stigma among Thai women infected with HIV

Abstract

This descriptive correlational study aimed to examine the relationship of factors related to the perceived stigma of Thai women infected with HIV and explore the relationship between personal factors: age, educational level, marital status, duration of diagnosis with HIV infection, social support, and perceived stigma of Thai women infected with HIV. The perceived stigma can be divided into four aspects, including personalized stigma aspect, disclosure aspect, negative self-image aspect, and public attitudes aspect. The purposive sample included Thai women in the age range of 18-60 years old, which were eighty women infected with HIV recruited from the tertiary hospital in Thailand. The questionnaires composed of the demographic data form questionnaire, perceived stigma questionnaire of people infected with HIV which developed from the literature review by Berger et al. (2001), and social support questionnaires of people infected with HIV, which was modified from the concept of Weiss (1974) by Suwannaporn Mitsuwan (2007). The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and inferential analyses, including t-test, Pearson correlation, and Chi-square. Results showed that the sample group perceived stigma at a medium level. There were significant between marital status (p=0.022), age (p=0.01), and perceived stigma among Thai women infected with HIV. However, when analyzing data of each aspect of perceived stigma, it was found that marital status had the significance of personalized stigma aspect (p=0.03), and duration of diagnosis with HIV infection had the significance of public attitudes aspect (p=0.01), negative self-image aspect (p<0.01), and social support had the significance with disclosure aspect (p=0.002), personalized stigma aspect (p=0.05), negative self-image aspect (p<0.003). These findings suggested that health care personnel should organize activities and need to understand the perceived stigma of patient and factors which had significant with perceived stigma to promote Thai women infected with HIV lead to reducing perceived stigma.