Relationship between stigma and health-related quality of life in patients diagnosed with HIV

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic is one of the main problems in public health, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is usually negatively affected. Stigma is one of the factors related to a lower HRQoL. Material and methods: We aimed to assess this relationship, and felt stigma was measured using HIV felt stigma scale, while HRQoL was measured with EORTC QLQ-C30. We interviewed 140 patients, and 10.9% of our respondents reported feeling severe stigma, 25.4% moderate stigma, 26.1% mild stigma, and 37.7% absence of stigma. Results: Average score for overall HRQoL was 83.3 (SD = 21.4). Higher levels of stigma were associated with lower levels of perceived global HRQoL (β = –0.32, p = 0.001). Moreover, higher levels of stigma were correlated with a lower physical function (β = –0.27, p = 0.005), role function (β = –0.28, p = 0.001), cognitive function (β = –0.30, p = 0.001), social function (β = –0.32, p = 0.001), and emotional function (β = –0.60, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Reducing felt stigma could help improve HRQoL in HIV-positive patients.