Perceived Stigma and Associated Factors Among People Living with HIV Attending ART Clinics in Public Health Facilities of Dessie City, Ethiopia

Introduction: Despite the fact that responses to epidemics of human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) have gradually improved; it remains one of the world's public health challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Evidence is still limited in this area and this study aimed to assess the magnitude of perceived stigma and associated factors among people living with HIV (PLWH) in public health facilities of Dessie city, Ethiopia.

Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a total of 422 PLWH from September 1 to October 30, 2019 in Dessie city. A pretested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data and it was analyzed using Stata/SE 14. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with perceived stigma. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) along with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated to measure the strength and direction of the association. Statistical significance was declared at P value less than 0.05.

Results: The overall magnitude of perceived stigma among people living with HIV in public health facilities of Dessie city was 41.93% [95% CI: (37.25, 46.75)]. Perceived stigma was positively associated with being female [AOR=2.08, 95% CI: (1.26, 3.46)], living in rural areas [AOR=1.80, 95% CI: (1.10, 2.94)] and not disclosing HIV status [AOR=2.36, 95% CI: (1.19, 4.66)].

Conclusion: In this study, the magnitude of perceived stigma was high as compared to UNAIDS standard, and sex, place of residence, and disclosure of HIV serostatus were significantly associated with perceived stigma. The findings suggested that special emphasis should be placed on rural residents in order to reduce perceived stigma. Moreover, counseling should focus on disclosing HIV serostatus to anyone else interested to disclose particularly for females.