Relationship between stigma and health-related quality of life among people living with HIV

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related stigma is one of the several challenges which people living with HIV (PLWH) need to overcome. Society's stigma and discrimination prevent PLWH from seeking professional healthcare services, while feeling distressed, guilty, depressed, despairing, and disowned. This has an impact on their quality of life. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between stigma and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) among PLWH. Material and methods: Using purposive sampling and inclusion and exclusion criteria, hundred HIV-infected individuals were included. This study employed a cross-sectional study approach, and data collection was done with WHOQOL-HIV-BREF questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Spearman's rho test to identify the relationship between stigma and HR-QoL, with ap-value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics were employed to identify demographic characteristics of respondents. Results: The results showed that there was a moderate positive relationship between stigma and depression symptoms (p = 0.000, r = 0.5222), and a weak positive relationship between stigma and physical functioning (p = 0.021, r = 0.231) and QoL (p = 0.030, r = 0.217). However, there was no correlation between HIV stigma and overall general health (p = 0.371, r = 0.900). Conclusions: HIV-related stigma is associated with HR-QoL of PLWH. Respondents who experienced HIV stigma had severe depression symptoms, fair physical functioning, and fair overall general health, while most of the respondents did not have a good QoL. Family empowerment and social support are both affecting quality of life of PLWH, and are as important as medical support in influencing their life expectancy and self-esteem to accept living with the disease.