Stigma was greatest in the Fear of Contagion domain.

StephenW

<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2893.2011.01462.x/abstract>

Characterizing hepatitis B stigma in Chinese immigrants

S. J. Cotler1, S. Cotler2, H. Xie3, B. J. Luc1, T. J. Layden1, S. S.
Wong1Article first published online: 4 MAY 2011

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2011.01462.x
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Issue

Journal of Viral Hepatitis
Early View (Online Version of Record published before inclusion in an
issue)

Summary.  Health-related stigma is a cause of stress, alienation and
discrimination that can serve as a barrier to prevention and care for
infectious diseases such as HIV. Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related stigma is
common in Asian immigrants, but has not been formally evaluated. The aim of
this study was to develop and validate the first HBV stigma instrument and
to begin to evaluate HBV stigma in Chinese immigrants. The HBV stigma
instrument was developed based on constructs from validated HIV stigma
scales and organized into five domains. A written survey was compiled to
include demographic data, HBV knowledge questions and stigma items. The
survey was pilot tested in English and Chinese and then finalized. Data
were obtained from 201 patients seen in an urban Chinatown Internal
Medicine practice. The stigma items showed a high degree of reliability
when assessed in aggregate (α = 0.85) as well as within individual
domains. Stigma was greatest in the Fear of Contagion domain. Knowledge
questions showed a corresponding deficit in understanding of modes of HBV
transmission. An inverse relationship between stigma scores and familiarity
with HBV provided evidence of construct validity. In multivariable
analysis, having a family member with HBV and higher HBV knowledge subset
scores were associated with lower degrees of stigma. In conclusion, the
hepatitis B stigma instrument showed reliability and construct validity.
The relationship identified between familiarity and knowledge regarding HBV
with lower stigma scores provides the basis for the development of
interventions to reduce HBV stigma.