Díaz Nelson Varas, Rivera Souhail Malavé, Bou Francheska Cintrón
University of Puerto Rico, Graduate School of Social Work Beatriz Lassalle.
P R Health Sci J. 2008 Jun;27(2):147-57.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to impact Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region with growing numbers of cases each year. The stigma that surrounds the epidemic has harmful implications on the health of people living with the disease and public health in general, fostering health deterioration and new infections. When this stigma emanates from health professionals it can severely hinder access to health services, which are crucial for those living with the virus. Still, AIDS stigma has been previously explored among this population as a separate phenomenon from other pre-existing stigmas. This has yielded a limited perspective on the complexity of how AIDS stigma is manifested. In light of this limitation, the main objectives of this study were: 1) to document AIDS stigma among a sample of Puerto Rican health professionals and health professionals in training and 2) to explore the combination of other stigmas (sexism, homophobia, and negative attitudes towards drug users) with that associated to HIV/AIDS. Through an exploratory design, using a mixed method approach (qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative questionnaires), we explored the objectives in a sample of 501 health professionals and health professionals in training. The results evidenced the combinations of other stigmas with that of HIV/AIDS. Homophobia yielded the strongest correlation and was the best predictor of AIDS stigma. These results evidence the need to develop interventions to reduce AIDS stigma and its combinations among this population.
艾滋病毒/艾滋病疫情持续影响着波多黎各和加勒比地区，每年的病例数不断增加。围绕该疫情的污名对艾滋病患者的健康以及总体公共卫生产生有害影响，加剧健康恶化并导致新的感染。当这种污名来自卫生专业人员时，会严重阻碍获得医疗服务，而医疗服务对病毒携带者至关重要。尽管如此，此前在这一人群中对艾滋病污名的探讨是将其作为一种与其他既存污名相分离的现象。这对于艾滋病污名的表现复杂性所提供的视角有限。鉴于这一局限性，本研究的主要目标是：1）记录波多黎各卫生专业人员及实习卫生专业人员样本中的艾滋病污名情况；2）探究其他污名（性别歧视、恐同症以及对吸毒者的负面态度）与艾滋病相关污名的结合情况。通过探索性设计，采用混合方法（定性深度访谈和定量问卷调查），我们在501名卫生专业人员及实习卫生专业人员样本中探究了上述目标。结果证明了其他污名与艾滋病污名的结合情况。恐同症的相关性最强，是艾滋病污名的最佳预测指标。这些结果表明有必要制定干预措施以减少这一人群中的艾滋病污名及其结合情况。
