Healthcare Workers' Attitude Towards People Living With HIV

Abstract

Background: HIV-related stigmatization among healthcare workers is still high. The aim of that research was to determine attitudes and behaviors towards people living with HIV (PLWH) to determine the ratio of stigmatization and prejudice towards PLWH among healthcare workers. Methods: This was a single-center, national, cross-sectional, prospective, analytical survey study. Doctors and nurses at Izmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital were included in this study. The study was performed as a face-to-face and online survey. The sociodemographic data form and AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS) were administered to the participants. The results were analysed with the IBM SPSS 24.0 program. The significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Results: A total of 404 people were included in our study.A total of 301 (74, 5%) of the participants were female, and 13 (25, 5%) were male. The average age of the participants was 33.25 ± 8.22 years. Most of the participants were aged 24-30 years (55, 9%), and the attitudes of healthcare workers towards PLWH increased with age. Compared with assistant doctors and nurses, specialist doctors have more positive and empathetic attitudes and less avoidance. Conclusion: Participant attitudes towards PLWH are generally mild-high positive, but negative attitudes towards PLWH are common among healthcare workers. Regular education is needed for nurses and assistant doctors to increase confidence in HIV and reduce negative attitudes towards PLWH. However, additional quantitative studies are needed to identify interventionable points to increase empathy toward PLWH.