Age, Stigma, Adherence and Clinical Indicators in HIV-Infected Women

Abstract

Article History Received: October 21st, 2015 Stigma has become a gendered phenomenon that affects increasing numbers of HIV- Accepted: November 13th, 2015 infected women worldwide. This study examined the role of age as a possible moderator of the Published: November 17th, 2015 relationship between stigma and antiretroviral therapy adherence, CD4% and viral load among 120 HIV-infected women. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from the Keeping Healthy and Active with Risk Reduction and Medication Adherence (KHARMA) Project, an Citation National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded randomized controlled trial to improve Antiretro- McCoy K, Higgins M, Zuñiga JA, Hol- viral treatment (ART) adherence and reduce risky behaviors in HIV-infected women at five stad MM. Age, stigma, adherence and clinical indicators in HIV-infected clinical sites in a South-eastern city from 2005 to 2008. Stigma was measured using the Per- women. HIV/AIDS Res Treat Open J. ceived Personal Stigma of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency 2015; SE(1): S1-S8. doi: 10.17140/ Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) scale. Among participants <50 years old (n=90), age was significantly HARTOJ-SE-1-101 associated with viral load (rho=-.24, p=.02) and stigma was negatively associated with CD4% (r =-.26, p=.02). For the 30 participants >50 years old, age was not significantly associated with viral load, stigma or CD4%, and there was no significant association between stigma and CD4% (r=.07, p=.70). These findings indicate the need for further study regarding this potential moderating effect and possible interventions to address the susceptibility of younger women to the harmful effects of stigma.