Using a Multi-level Framework to Test Empirical Relationships Among HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma, Health Service Barriers, and HIV Outcomes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: HIV/AIDS-related (HAR) stigma is an ongoing problem in Sub-Saharan Africa that is thought to impede HIV preventive and treatment interventions. This paper uses a systematic sample of households (Level 1) nested within near-neighbor clusters (Level 2) and communities (Level 3) to examine multilevel relationships of HAR stigma to health service barriers (HSBs) and HIV outcomes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, thereby addressing methodological and conceptual gaps in the literature from this context. Findings suggest differential patterns of prediction at Level 1 when examining two different dimensions of stigma: more highly stigmatizing attitudes predicted more household health service barriers; and perceptions of greater levels of community normative HAR stigma predicted higher household HIV

SUBMITTER: Williams LD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6707890 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature