Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.
Understanding the causes and extent of SAD requires the use of a psychometrically reliable and valid scale. The objective of this study was to validate an HIV-related stigma scale among health care providers in a resource-poor setting. A cross-sectional validation study was conducted in 18 health care institutions in southwest Ethiopia, from March 14, to April 14, Exploratory factor analysis EFA with principal component extraction and varimax with Kaiser normalization rotation were employed to develop scales for SAD.
Eigenvalues greater than 1 were used as a criterion of extraction. Items with item-factor loadings less than 0. The convergent validity of the scales was tested by assessing the association with HIV knowledge, PIS, training on topics related to SAD, educational status, HIV case load, presence of an antiretroviral therapy ART service in the health care facility, and perceived religiosity.
The factor loadings of the items ranged from 0. An in-depth knowledge of HIV, perceptions of institutional support, attendance of training on topics related to SAD, degree or higher education levels, high HIV case loads, the availability of ART in the health care facility and claiming oneself as nonreligious were all negatively associated with SAD as measured by the seven newly identified latent factors.
The findings in this study demonstrate that the HIV-related stigma scale is valid and reliable when used in resource-poor settings. Considering the local situation, health care managers and researchers may use this scale to measure and characterize HIV-related SAD among health care providers. Tailoring for local regions may require further development of the tool. Since the beginning of the human immunodeficiency virus HIV epidemic, stigma and discrimination SAD have been identified as the major obstacles to effective responses to HIV.
