Open AccessHIV Transmission Worry Predicts Discrimination Intentions Among Nursing Students and Ward Staff in India
Author(s) -
Laura Nyblade,
Krishnamachari Srinivasan,
Tony Raj,
Emmanuel Oga,
Elsa Heylen,
Amanda Mazur,
Dhinagaran Devadass,
Wayne T. Steward,
Matilda Pereira,
Maria Ekstrand
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aids and behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.994
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1573-3254
pISSN - 1090-7165
DOI - 10.1007/s10461-020-03001-1
Subject(s) - worry , public health , health psychology , stigma (botany) , psychological intervention , medicine , nursing , cross sectional study , social stigma , nursing research , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , health care , psychology , family medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatry , anxiety , pathology , economics , economic growth
Health facility stigma impedes HIV care and treatment. Worry of contracting HIV while caring for people living with HIV is a key driver of health facility stigma, however evidence for this relationship is largely cross-sectional. This study evaluates this relationship longitudinally amongst nursing students and ward staff in India. Worry of contracting HIV and other known predictors of intent to discriminate were collected at baseline and 6 months in 916 nursing students and 747 ward staff. Using fixed effects regression models, we assessed the effect of key predictors on intent to discriminate over a 6-month period. Worry of contracting HIV predicted intent to discriminate for nursing students and ward staff in care situations with low and high-risk for bodily fluid exposure, confirming prior cross-sectional study results and underscoring the importance of addressing worry of contracting HIV as part of health facility HIV stigma-reduction interventions.