Evaluation of Knowledge, Stigma and Fears among High Educated Persons about People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in Province of Vojvodina: Where Are We?

Objectives: Despite efforts to educate and fight against stigma and discrimination, everyday practice shows these problems still exist. Our goal was to evaluate knowledge on HIV infection, fears and stigma among people with higher education, who were expected to have more positive attitudes on this issue.
Methods: We evaluated 346 persons with higher education (23% medical doctors, 22% social workers, 25% high school teachers, 30% others) in Province of Vojvodina, Serbia during first half of 2013. Modified USAID questionnaire for Measuring the Degree of HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination in Health Facilities and Providers (Sept. 2010) was used with 3 subscales: knowledge, fear and stigma (30 questions). Crombach's alpha score was used for validity of scales, while Pearson´s correlation, Chi square and T-test were used for standard statistical calculations (p< 0.05).
Results: Questionnaire showed very good reliability (Crombach's alpha >0.7). Subjects' mean age was 43 years. Only 30% of respondents had contact with PLHIV before, 38% of them have never had any education about HIV. Univariance analysis showed no significant differences of three subscales due to knowledge, fears and stigma among all groups. Stigma correlated with younger age, fears were more often in women. There were significant differences between respondents with and without prior education about HIV. Respondents with previous contact with PLHIV showed less fear. Significant negative correlation was found between knowledge and fears (r=-0.22, p< 0.01) and knowledge and stigma (r=-0.10, p< 0.05). Fears and stigma were strongly correlated (r= 0.35, p< 0.01).
Conclusions: Suprisingly, medical doctors did not have more knowledge and postitive attitudes about PLHIV than other groups with higher education. Younger people and women showed more stigma and fear. Continuous education and more contacts with PLHIV are needed to decrease negative attitudes to PLHIV.