The Relationship between Social Visibility, Stigma, and Discrimination Among People Living with HIV In Iran

Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to controlling and preventing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection because it leads to HIV-positive patients’(PLHIV) refusal to disclose their disease. The present study aims to determine the relationship between social visibility and stigma from the perspective of PLHIV in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021 on PLHIV in Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Arak, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh, and Boyar-Ahmad, Iran, selected by a non-random sampling method. A questionnaire consisting of demographic information, individuals’ attitudes toward HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and the social visibility of the patients were used. The zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression model was used to investigate the effects of stigma and discrimination on the social visibility of patients considering a significance level of 5% in STATA (14) software. Overall, 315 people (69% male) with a mean age (SD) of 43.19 (9.34) participated in this study. The participants’ mean (SD) attitude score was 59.71 (12.15). Approximately 54.60% of the participants had moderate attitudes toward HIV. The results showed that by increasing one score in the individuals’ attitude score (attitude worsening), the likelihood of disclosure decreased by about 0.5% (p=0.002). Considering the negative effects of stigma and discrimination on social visibility, planning to improve attitudes toward PLHIV is necessary to disclose HIV infection and treat patients and also to reduce infection transmission in society.