Internalized stigma among people living with HIV: assessing the Internalized AIDS-Related Stigma Scale in four countries.

Objective: Measuring internalized stigma is critical to understanding its impact on the health and quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV). The aim of this study was to assess the performance of the Internalized AIDS-Related Stigma Scale (IA-RSS).

Design: Secondary analysis of the six-item IA-RSS was conducted using data from four cross-sectional surveys implemented in Cambodia (n = 1207), the Dominican Republic (n = 891), Uganda (n = 391) and Tanzania (n = 529) between 2018 and 2019.

The People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0: generating critical evidence for change worldwide.

Objective(s): To describe the process of updating the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) Stigma Index (Stigma Index) to reflect current global treatment guidelines and to better measure intersecting stigmas and resilience.

Design: Through an iterative process driven by PLHIV, the Stigma Index was revised, pretested, and formally evaluated in three cross-sectional studies.

Methods: Between March and October 2017, 1153 surveys (n = 377, Cameroon; n = 390, Senegal; n = 391, Uganda) were conducted with PLHIV at least 18 years old who had known their status for at least 1 year.