HIV Stigma and Health Care Discrimination Experienced by Hispanic or Latino Persons with HIV — United States, 2018–2020
Mabel Padilla, Deesha Patel, Linda Beer, Yunfeng Tie, Priya Nair, Yamir Salabarría-Peña, Kirk D. Henny, Dominique Thomas, Sharoda Dasgupta
Abstract
The median HIV stigma score on a scale of 0-100 was 31.7, with women (35.6) and American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons (38.9) reporting the highest scores among Hispanic persons with HIV. HIV stigma was primarily attributed to disclosure concerns (e.g., fearing others will disclose one's HIV status and being careful about who one tells about one's HIV status). Nearly one in four (23%) Hispanic persons with HIV experienced health care discrimination. Health care discrimination was experienced more frequently by Hispanic men (23%) than by Hispanic women (18%) and by Black or African American (Black) Hispanic persons (28%) than by White Hispanic persons (21%). Understanding disparities in experiences of stigma and discrimination is important when designing culturally appropriate interventions to reduce stigma and discrimination.