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HIV-Related Stigma Among Spanish-speaking Latinos in an Emerging Immigrant Receiving City

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Abstract

HIV-related stigma has been associated with a reluctance to test for HIV among Latinos. This study assessed community HIV-related stigma within an emerging Latino immigrant receiving city. We conducted a brief survey among a convenience sample of 312 Spanish-speaking Latinos in Baltimore, Maryland. HIV-related stigma was assessed through six items. Associations between stigma items, socio-demographic characteristics, and HIV testing history were considered. Gender, education, and religiosity were significantly associated with stigmatizing HIV-related beliefs. For example, men were 3.4 times more likely to hold more than three stigmatizing beliefs than women, and were also twice as likely as women to report feeling hesitant to test for HIV for fear of people’s reaction if the test is positive. These findings can help inform future stigma interventions in this community. In particular, we were able to distinguish between drivers of stigma such as fear and moralistic attitudes, highlighting specific actionable items.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. We would like to thank our additional study team members for their efforts: Sergio Lizama, Rob Weatherford, Arielle Medford, Adi Rattner, Giselle Zornberg, Monica Miranda, Marina Palma Lima, Patricia Tellez Watson, William Acosta, and Fidel Desir.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Child and Community Health Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5200 Eastern Ave, Mason F. Lord Center Tower Suite 4200, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Suzanne M. Dolwick Grieb

  2. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Harita Shah

  3. Bureau of HIV/STD Services, Baltimore City Health Department, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Alejandra Flores-Miller & Kathleen R. Page

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Carla Zelaya

  5. Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Kathleen R. Page

Authors
  1. Suzanne M. Dolwick Grieb
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  2. Harita Shah
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  3. Alejandra Flores-Miller
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  4. Carla Zelaya
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  5. Kathleen R. Page
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Correspondence to Suzanne M. Dolwick Grieb.

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Dolwick Grieb, S.M., Shah, H., Flores-Miller, A. et al. HIV-Related Stigma Among Spanish-speaking Latinos in an Emerging Immigrant Receiving City. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 868–875 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0497-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0497-9

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