Stigma Toward People With HIV/AIDS among Health Science Students in Indonesia

Currently, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) still feel stigma and discrimination from their families, communities, and health workers, despite the successful management of the HIV infections. Stigma from health services can hinder PLWHA from accessing care, affecting their quality of life. Increased knowledge and clinical exposure among medical students can increase positive attitudes toward PLWHA. The purpose of this study is to describe stigma toward PLWHA from students at the health science faculties of Universitas Indonesia. This study used a descriptive cross-sectional method to study 1400 students of the university’s health science faculties (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, and Faculty of Nursing) using a previously published questionnaire that had been adapted cross-culturally into Indonesian. The questionnaire consisted of three domains, namely the students’ personal/cultural beliefs about HIV, knowledge of HIV, and clinical interaction toward HIV patients. This study demonstrated that even though the students performed well overall on the survey, there were replies to some specific items that pointed to HIV knowledge gaps and differences in personal/cultural beliefs about the disease. It found that age, year of entry, and study major were associated with the participants’ stigma across the three domains. A significant relationship existed between the total subscore and personal/cultural beliefs about HIV, HIV knowledge, and clinical interactions with HIV-positive patients. Stigma toward PLWHA among the students in this study was distinguished by age, year of entry, and study major. The study concluded that stigma toward PLWHA was low among most health students in the health science faculties at Universitas Indonesia; however, some students still had stigma due to HIV knowledge gaps and differences in personal/cultural beliefs about the disease.