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AIDS and Behavior
Published in: AIDS and Behavior 8/2013

01-10-2013 | Original Paper

How Does Antiretroviral Treatment Attenuate the Stigma of HIV? Evidence from a Cohort Study in Rural Uganda

Authors: Alexander C. Tsai, David R. Bangsberg, Mwebesa Bwana, Jessica E. Haberer, Edward A. Frongillo, Conrad Muzoora, Elias Kumbakumba, Peter W. Hunt, Jeffrey N. Martin, Sheri D. Weiser

Published in: AIDS and Behavior | Issue 8/2013

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Abstract

Program implementers and qualitative researchers have described how increasing availability of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with improvements in psychosocial health and internalized stigma. To determine whether, and through what channels, ART reduces internalized stigma, we analyzed data from 262 HIV-infected, treatment-naïve persons in rural Uganda followed from ART initiation over a median of 3.4 years. We fitted Poisson regression models with cluster-correlated robust estimates of variance, specifying internalized stigma as the dependent variable, adjusting for time on treatment as well as socio-demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables. Over time on treatment, internalized stigma declined steadily, with the largest decline observed during the first 2 years of treatment. This trend remained statistically significant after multivariable adjustment (χ2 = 28.3; P = 0.03), and appeared to be driven by ART-induced improvements in HIV symptom burden, physical and psychological wellbeing, and depression symptom severity.
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Metadata
Title
How Does Antiretroviral Treatment Attenuate the Stigma of HIV? Evidence from a Cohort Study in Rural Uganda
Authors
Alexander C. Tsai
David R. Bangsberg
Mwebesa Bwana
Jessica E. Haberer
Edward A. Frongillo
Conrad Muzoora
Elias Kumbakumba
Peter W. Hunt
Jeffrey N. Martin
Sheri D. Weiser
Publication date
01-10-2013
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
AIDS and Behavior / Issue 8/2013
Print ISSN: 1090-7165
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3254
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-013-0503-3

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