title: Assessing HIV/AIDS stigma in south India: validation and abridgement of the Berger HIV Stigma scale.
abstract: HIV-related stigma has been associated with depression, poor adherence, and nondisclosure of HIV-positive status, all of which can lead to increased transmission of HIV and poorer health outcomes for HIV-infected individuals. The Berger HIV Stigma scale has been used in multiple settings but never adapted and validated in India, home to the world's second largest HIV-infected population. We assessed the reliability and validity of a Tamil translation of the original 40-item scale, and conducted confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses to assess cultural appropriateness and abbreviate the scale. Reliability and validity were high (alpha = 0.91; test-retest reliability ICC = 0.89). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in an abridged 25-item version of the scale that possessed better psychometric properties than the 40-item version. This culturally validated, abridged HIV-Stigma scale can be used in busy clinical settings to identify individuals in need of psychosocial support and assess post-intervention changes in stigma in Southern India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jeyaseelan
authors.forename: Shuba
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mohanraj
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rebekah
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Lisa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Manhart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012424:Rural Population; D057545:Social Stigma; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult