Alchawa Mohamad, Naja Sarah, Ali Khaled, Kehyayan Vahe, Haddad Peter Michael, Bougmiza Iheb
Community Medicine Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Alrayyan Street, P.O.Box: 3050, Doha, Qatar.
University of Calgary in Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
Eur J Psychiatry. 2023 Jan-Mar;37(1):24-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpsy.2022.08.004. Epub 2022 Aug 30.
Perceived stigma related to infectious diseases is of public health importance and can adversely impact patients' physical and mental health. This study aims to identify the level of perceived stigma among COVID-19 survivors in Qatar and investigate its predictors.
An analytical cross-sectional design was employed. Four hundred and four participants who had a positive COVID-19 PCR test were randomly selected from medical records. The selected participants were interviewed to collect sociodemographic and health-related information. Perceived stigma was assessed using the COVID-19 perceived stigma scale-22 (CPSS-22) that was developed by the researchers. A descriptive analysis followed by a bivariate analysis investigated possible associations between the perceived stigma levels and independent variables. A multivariable analysis was performed using logistic regression to identify any significant associations with perceived stigma. The validity and reliability of the developed tool were also tested.
The prevalence of COVID-19 perceived stigma was twenty-six percent ( = 107, 26.4%) at 95% CI [22.4-30.4]. Factors associated with higher COVID-19 perceived stigma were male gender, being a manual worker, non-Arabic ethnicity, low educational level, living alone, and being isolated outside the home. However, only occupation, ethnicity, and low educational level predicted COVID-19 perceived stigma in multivariable analysis. The CPSS-22 showed excellent reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.92).
Perceived stigma was relatively common among participants. Designing programs and interventions targeting male manual workers and those of low-educational levels may assist policymakers in mitigating the stigma related to COVID-19.
与传染病相关的感知耻辱具有公共卫生重要性，会对患者的身心健康产生不利影响。本研究旨在确定卡塔尔新冠病毒疾病幸存者的感知耻辱水平，并调查其预测因素。
采用分析性横断面设计。从医疗记录中随机选取404名新冠病毒聚合酶链式反应检测呈阳性的参与者。对选定的参与者进行访谈，以收集社会人口学和健康相关信息。使用研究人员开发的新冠病毒感知耻辱量表22（CPSS - 22）评估感知耻辱。先进行描述性分析，然后进行双变量分析，以研究感知耻辱水平与自变量之间可能的关联。使用逻辑回归进行多变量分析，以确定与感知耻辱的任何显著关联。还对所开发工具的效度和信度进行了测试。
新冠病毒感知耻辱的患病率为26%（n = 107，26.4%），95%置信区间为[22.4 - 30.4]。与较高的新冠病毒感知耻辱相关的因素包括男性、体力劳动者身份、非阿拉伯族裔、低教育水平、独居以及在家外被隔离。然而，在多变量分析中，只有职业、族裔和低教育水平可预测新冠病毒感知耻辱。CPSS - 22显示出出色的信度（Cronbach's α为0.92）。
感知耻辱在参与者中相对普遍。针对男性体力劳动者和低教育水平者设计项目和干预措施，可能有助于政策制定者减轻与新冠病毒相关的耻辱感。
