University students' anticipated stigma toward individuals with hereditary chronic diseases in oman: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Stigma is an experienced or anticipated social practice or negative labeling described as the blame or rejection of a person or group of people. Chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS could result in stigma and contribute to negative health outcomes. An individual with chronic disease may experience public stigma from family members, coworkers, friends, or healthcare staff, especially those with hereditary diseases. There are few published articles concerning hereditary chronic diseases that recognize this issue in Oman. This study aims to assess university students' anticipated stigma toward individuals with hereditary chronic diseases. Stigma is defined as negative labeling described as the blame or rejection of a person or group of people.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was performed at a higher education institution aged 18-30 years via a self-administered questionnaire. The study assessed university students' anticipated stigma toward individuals with hereditary chronic diseases using the Chronic Illness Anticipated Stigma Scale (CIASS), which has been adapted in this context to explore attitudes in a non-patient population A total of 407 students completed the survey. The majority (93.9%) of respondents were male, and 42.5% were 21 to 24 years of age.

RESULTS

The main findings of this study are that the anticipated stigma is high towards chronic hereditary diseases and Coworkers and employers were found to stigmatize patients with the chronic disease more than health care providers, family members, and friends. The majority (63.1%) of participants anticipated stigma with hereditary chronic diseases. Those who do not suffer from hereditary chronic diseases have a higher anticipated stigma than those who do suffer from hereditary chronic diseases. The highest mean scores were in the category of coworkers and employers (M = 9.55 ± 2.994), followed by the health care providers (M = 9.15 ± 3.433). The lowest scores were for family and friends (M = 8.46 ± 2.935). Students who did not suffer from hereditary chronic diseases (F (1,404) = 4.328, p =.038), students who were unaware of the premarital screening (PMS) (F (2,402) = 3.385, p =.035), and those who were unwilling to undergo PMS (F (1,405) = 9.342, p =.002) showed higher stigma scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Providing supportive help for individuals with hereditary chronic illnesses is imperative and needs to be incorporated within their plan of care. Further studies are needed to investigate all these factors and how they are related to the stigma of chronic diseases.