Objective: This study was conducted to identify stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their determinants among primary health care providers in Kinta District, Perak.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 36 primary care clinics in Kinta District, Perak. Using stratified random sampling, 365 primary health care providers were recruited into the study. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data as well as information on the healthcare experiences of healthcare providers, their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, and attitudes toward PLWHA. Determinants were identified using multiple linear regression.
Results: More than half of the respondents (54.1%) had never provided care to HIV/AIDS patients. A minority (29.9%) had received training on HIV/AIDS. This study shows that doctors (Coef.= -9.50, 95% CI: -18.93, -0.07, p= 0.048), respondents with HIV-positive relatives, (Coef.= -5.61, 95% CI: -10.57, -0.65, p= 0.027), those who had provided care to HIV/AIDS patients (Coef.= -2.38, 95% CI: -4.31, -0.45, p= 0.016), and those with a higher knowledge score on HIV/AIDS (Coef.= -0.86, 95% CI: -1.59, -0.13, p= 0.021) were less likely to show stigmatizing attitudes toward PLWHA.
Conclusion: The issue of stigmatizing attitudes toward PLWHA among primary health care providers needs to be addressed. This study finds that knowledge, profession, experiences with caring for PLWHA, gender, and having HIV-positive relatives are significant predictors of stigmatizing attitudes toward PLWHA among primary health care providers in Kinta District, Perak. Interventional programs to improve knowledge and awareness, as well as decrease stigma toward PLWHA, should be implemented among all health care providers, especially those who have no opportunity to provide direct care.
METHODS: In the present study, nine young people (aged 16-23 years) from low-income backgrounds participated in a semi-structured interview about their perspectives on mental health problems, unusual psychological experiences and help-seeking.
RESULTS: Four themes were developed using thematic analysis. "Is it that they [have] family problems?" reflected participants' explanatory models of mental health problems. "Maybe in Malaysia" was concerned with perceptions of Malaysian culture as both encouraging of open sharing of problems and experiences, but also potentially stigmatizing. "You have to ask for help" emphasized the importance of mental health help-seeking despite potential stigma. "It depends on the person" addressed the challenges of engaging with psychological therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that young people in Malaysia may hold compassionate, non-stigmatizing views towards people experiencing mental health problems and a desire to increase their knowledge and understandings. Yet societal stigma is a perceived reputational risk that may affect mental health problem disclosure and help-seeking. We suggest that efforts to improve mental health literacy would be valued by young Malaysians and could support reduced stigma and earlier help-seeking.
METHODS: Nine electronic databases and 1 grey literature source were searched for studies published in English between January 2006 and December 2018 and involving adolescents aged 10-19 years. We included studies that reported on components of depression literacy such as knowledge, help-seeking and stigmatising attitudes. We excluded qualitative studies. Two independent reviewers verified that the studies met the inclusion criteria, assessed the quality of the studies and extracted their characteristics. The data were descriptively analysed and appraised using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), Cochrane Collaboration's tool and the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (QATSQ).
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Fifty of the 14,626 references identified met the inclusion criteria. Depression literacy was most commonly (58%) assessed using tools that utilize a vignette-based methodology. A lack of uniformity in reporting of depression literacy was noted. Adolescents were poor at recognising depression, likely to seek help from informal sources and tended to attach stigma to depression. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions made for future research.