Adaptation and validation of a culturally adapted HIV stigma scale in Myanmar

BACKGROUND: HIV stigma is a common barrier to HIV prevention, testing, and treatment adherence, especially for low- and middle-income countries such as Myanmar. However, there was no validated Myanmar version of a stigma scale. Therefore, we adapted the English version of the 40-item Berger’s HIV stigma scale and the 7-item Indian HIV stigma scale into a 47-item Myanmar HIV stigma scale and then evaluated the scale’s psychometric properties. METHOD: From January 2020 to May 2020, using random sampling methods, 216 eligible Myanmar people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) were contacted from a closed Facebook group that included more than 10,000 PLWHA. A sample of 156 Myanmar PLWHA completed the online self-reported survey. RESULTS: A six-factor structure for the scale was determined through exploratory factor analysis, explaining 68.23% of the total variance. After deleting 12 items, the 35-item HIV stigma scale achieved Cronbach ‘s α of 0.72 to 0.95. Construct validity of the scale was demonstrated by significant association with self-reported depression and social support levels (r = 0.60, and − 0.77, p < 0.01). In Rasch analysis, the scale achieved person reliability of 3.40 and 1.53 and a separation index of 0.92 and 0.70. The infit and outfit mean squares for each item ranged from 0.68 to 1.40. No differential item functioning across gender or educational level was found. CONCLUSIONS: The psychometric properties of the 35-item Myanmar version of the HIV stigma scale support it as a measure of stigma among PLWHA in Myanmar. This instrument could help healthcare providers to better understand how stigma operates in PLWHA and to develop tailored stigma-reduction interventions in Myanmar. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-11685-w.