Characterizing hepatitis B stigma in Chinese immigrants

Cotler, Scott J.; Cotler, Sheldon; Xie, Hui; Bressollette, L; Layden, TJ; Wong, Shirley

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2893.2011.01462.x

Cited by 97 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…24,25 Our study found that 51.81% of participants who received a vaccination were likely to display severe HBV-related discrimination compared to 43.86% that were unimmunized. This result contrasts with other studies, 4,12 where participants who have received HBV vaccination displayed reduced HBV-related discrimination by decreasing their fear of contagion. We speculate that since immunized participants were more aware of the consequences of HBV, they displayed more fear of contagion than unimmunized participants.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…17 HBV stigma was greatest in the fear of contagion domain. 12 We found that fear of being infected with HBV was significantly associated with rural migrant worker HBV-related discrimination (See Table 4). Most previous qualitative studies showed that discrimination stemmed from lack of knowledge about HBV and the way it is transmitted rather than fear of HBV infection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Previous studies 4,6,13 found that knowledge about HBV was low in rural Chinese populations, Asian immigrants 18,19 and Chinese immigrants. 12,18,20 In our study, HBV-related knowledge consisted of knowledge about HBV symptoms, consequences if untreated, treatment regimes and transmission routes. On the total HBV knowledge scale , the mean score was 7.61, with higher scores indicating greater HBV knowledge levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 Discrimination and HBV stigma underpinned the reluctance of HBV carriers to access HBV screening, diagnosis, care and treatment services and also a barrier to adopting prevention behaviors. 2,12 There have been limited studies of discrimination against HBV patients. Cultural values and social-cognitive factors are known to affect HBV-related discrimination, 13 and discrimination studies have identified education as an important stigmareduction intervention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hepatitis B discrimination in everyday life by rural migrant workers in Beijing

Leng

Wangen

et al. 2016

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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Background: In China, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a particularly challenging public health issue, with an estimated 90 million chronic hepatitis B carriers accounting for almost 7% of the population. Healthrelated discrimination can serve as a barrier to prevention and care for infectious diseases, such as HBV, degrade the HBV sufferers' quality of life and limit HBV patients' employment opportunities. While rural migrants account for up to 40% of the total urban population in the developed cities in China, there has been no study of the discrimination behavior of rural migrant workers toward HBV carriers.Objective: This study evaluates the discrimination behavior of rural migrant workers toward HBV carriers and patients and proposes public policy recommendations to address discrimination and stigma.Methods: The sample comprised 903 rural adults, aged over 18 years old, who migrated to Beijing. Using a face-to-face interview, we surveyed rural migrants' demographic characteristics, knowledge of HBV and discrimination against HBV carriers. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study population, HBV stigma and knowledge of HBV. Three discrimination levels (no-mild, medium and severe discrimination) were modeled using multiple logistic regression.Results: Rural migrants to Beijing had a mean age of 36 years, were overwhelmingly married (91.58%), mostly with a junior high school or lower education (78.05%) and mainly engaged as temporary workers (42.52%) or self-employed (33.78%). Only 30.56% reported that they had been vaccinated against HBV. On the 0-10 discrimination scale, rural migrants rated 6.24, with only 4.54% displaying no sign of HBV-related discrimination. The high discrimination score occurred alongside a low mean knowledge of HBV (7.61 on the 1-22 ranking of HBV knowledge). Multiple logistic regression results suggest an inverse relationship between discrimination levels and HBV knowledge, especially knowledge about treatment and transmission routes. The "fear of being infected with HBV" and being HBV vaccinated was positively associated with HBV-related discrimination. Unemployed rural migrants were more likely to exhibit severe HBV-related discrimination than other occupational groups. Personal attributes, such as gender, age, marital status and education level were not associated with the level of discrimination.Conclusions: Knowledge of HBV, its transmission and treatment, and the fear of HBV infection were key features in understanding HBV discrimination by rural migrant workers. To reduce discrimination, HBV public health education campaigns need to focus on both knowledge about HBV and the fear of HBV infection. Such campaigns should target rural migrant subgroups, such as unemployed rural migrant workers.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hepatitis B discrimination in everyday life by rural migrant workers in Beijing

Leng

Wangen

et al. 2016

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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show abstract

“…Incorrect knowledge about the modes of HBV transmission can lead to misguided preventive behaviors and continued stigma against those with HBV [23]. Concern about social stigma has been a documented barrier to HBV screening, diagnosis, and treatment: respondents face fear and shame regarding transmission of HBV to their loved ones and discrimination in the workplace or school [18,25,27,28]. For example, the high rate of participants incorrectly believing that HBV could be spread by sharing food, drink, or utensils demonstrates the high level of distress regarding the contagiousness of HBV, which can hinder open discussions regarding HBV.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%