{"title":"Can social support improve Mpox care-seeking among men who have sex with men through stigma reduction: a chain mediation analysis from China.","authors":"Xin Ge, Yujie Liu, Shangbin Liu, Shunyu Tao, Chen Xu, Birong Wu, Ying Wang, Jiechen Zhang, Yong Cai","doi":"10.1186/s41256-025-00452-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Monkeypox (mpox) has emerged as a global public health concern, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). Stigma limits access to care, and the role of social support in shaping care-seeking through psychosocial mechanisms remains unclear. This study examined whether social support influences care-seeking intentions via stigma and perceived healthcare benefits among MSM in China.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2023 to March 2024 across 6 provinces in China. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Spearman correlations, and logistic regression were performed to explore associations between HBM-related constructs and healthcare-seeking intentions. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of social support via stigma and perceived healthcare benefits.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among participants, 83.4% expressed an intention to seek healthcare for mpox. Directly, social support was positively associated with healthcare-seeking intention (β = 0.274, p < 0.001). Indirectly, social support affected healthcare-seeking intention through two pathways: (1) by reducing stigma (β = -0.108, p < 0.001), which in turn enhanced perceived healthcare benefits (β = -0.663, p < 0.001), ultimately increasing healthcare-seeking intention (chain effect β = 0.033, p = 0.005); and (2) directly enhancing perceived healthcare benefits (β = 0.091, p < 0.001), thereby increasing healthcare-seeking intention (β = 0.231, p < 0.001; indirect effect β = 0.042, p = 0.005). The total indirect effect accounted for 22.6% of the total effect.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Social support enhances mpox care-seeking intention among MSM in China by reducing stigma and improving perceptions of privacy, affordability, and treatment efficacy. Integrated interventions-combining peer support, stigma reduction, and privacy protection-are needed to foster early health engagement.</p>","PeriodicalId":52405,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Research and Policy","volume":"10 1","pages":"49"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12486528/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Global Health Research and Policy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-025-00452-8","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Monkeypox (mpox) has emerged as a global public health concern, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM). Stigma limits access to care, and the role of social support in shaping care-seeking through psychosocial mechanisms remains unclear. This study examined whether social support influences care-seeking intentions via stigma and perceived healthcare benefits among MSM in China.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2023 to March 2024 across 6 provinces in China. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Spearman correlations, and logistic regression were performed to explore associations between HBM-related constructs and healthcare-seeking intentions. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and indirect effects of social support via stigma and perceived healthcare benefits.
Results: Among participants, 83.4% expressed an intention to seek healthcare for mpox. Directly, social support was positively associated with healthcare-seeking intention (β = 0.274, p < 0.001). Indirectly, social support affected healthcare-seeking intention through two pathways: (1) by reducing stigma (β = -0.108, p < 0.001), which in turn enhanced perceived healthcare benefits (β = -0.663, p < 0.001), ultimately increasing healthcare-seeking intention (chain effect β = 0.033, p = 0.005); and (2) directly enhancing perceived healthcare benefits (β = 0.091, p < 0.001), thereby increasing healthcare-seeking intention (β = 0.231, p < 0.001; indirect effect β = 0.042, p = 0.005). The total indirect effect accounted for 22.6% of the total effect.
Conclusions: Social support enhances mpox care-seeking intention among MSM in China by reducing stigma and improving perceptions of privacy, affordability, and treatment efficacy. Integrated interventions-combining peer support, stigma reduction, and privacy protection-are needed to foster early health engagement.
期刊介绍：
Global Health Research and Policy, an open-access, multidisciplinary journal, publishes research on various aspects of global health, addressing topics like health equity, health systems and policy, social determinants of health, disease burden, population health, and other urgent global health issues. It serves as a forum for high-quality research focused on regional and global health improvement, emphasizing solutions for health equity.
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