A systematic review of measures of HIV/AIDS stigma in paediatric HIV-infected and HIV-affected populations

INTRODUCTION: HIV-related stigma impacts the quality of life and care management of HIV-infected and HIV-affected individuals, but how we measure stigma and its impact on children and adolescents has less often been described. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies that measured HIV-related stigma with a quantitative tool in paediatric HIV-infected and HIV-affected populations. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Varying measures have been used to assess stigma in paediatric populations, with most studies utilizing the full or variant form of the HIV Stigma Scale that has been validated in adult populations and utilized with paediatric populations in Africa, Asia and the United States. Other common measures included the Perceived Public Stigma Against Children Affected by HIV, primarily utilized and validated in China. Few studies implored item validation techniques with the population of interest, although scales were used in a different cultural context from the origin of the scale. CONCLUSIONS: Many stigma measures have been used to assess HIV stigma in paediatric populations, globally, but few have implored methods for cultural adaptation and content validity.