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Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study

OBJECTIVE: Health-related stigma is considered a social determinant of health equity and a hidden burden of disease. This study aimed to assess the level and dimensions of stigma and respective coping mechanisms in COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: A mixed-methods study with sequential explanatory design...

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Autores principales: Peters, Lynn, Burkert, Sanne, Brenner, Cecilia, Grüner, Beate
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9412038/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36002206
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059472
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author Peters, Lynn
Burkert, Sanne
Brenner, Cecilia
Grüner, Beate
author_facet Peters, Lynn
Burkert, Sanne
Brenner, Cecilia
Grüner, Beate
author_sort Peters, Lynn
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: Health-related stigma is considered a social determinant of health equity and a hidden burden of disease. This study aimed to assess the level and dimensions of stigma and respective coping mechanisms in COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: A mixed-methods study with sequential explanatory design was conducted at the University Hospital of Ulm, Germany. Stigma was assessed using the Social Impact Scale (SIS) including adult COVID-19 survivors with mild-to-severe disease. Subsequently, 14 participants were sampled with regard to gender, age and severity of disease for in-depth interviews to understand how stigma was experienced and coping strategies were applied. The questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and analysis of variance. Content analysis was used for qualitative data. RESULTS: From 61 participants, 58% were men and mean age was 51 years. The quantitative analysis of the SIS indicated an intermediate level of experienced stigma. Participants experienced stigma mainly as ‘social rejection’ (M=14.22, SD=4.91), followed by ‘social isolation’ (M=10.17, SD=4.16) and ‘internalised shame’ (M=8.39, SD=3.32). There was no significant difference in experienced stigma regarding gender, education, occupational status or residual symptoms. However, participants between 30 and 39 years of age experienced higher levels of stigma than other age groups (p=0.034). The qualitative analysis revealed how stigma seemed to arise from misconceptions creating irrational fear of infection, leading to stereotyping, vilification, discrimination and social exclusion of COVID-19 survivors, leaving them feeling vulnerable. Stigma cut through all social levels, from the individual level at the bottom to the institutional and societal level at the top. Social networks protected from experiencing stigma. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-related stigma is a relevant burden in the ongoing pandemic. Providing accurate information and exposing misinformation on disease prevention and treatment seems key to end COVID-19-related stigma.
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spelling pubmed-94120382022-08-26 Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study Peters, Lynn Burkert, Sanne Brenner, Cecilia Grüner, Beate BMJ Open Infectious Diseases OBJECTIVE: Health-related stigma is considered a social determinant of health equity and a hidden burden of disease. This study aimed to assess the level and dimensions of stigma and respective coping mechanisms in COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: A mixed-methods study with sequential explanatory design was conducted at the University Hospital of Ulm, Germany. Stigma was assessed using the Social Impact Scale (SIS) including adult COVID-19 survivors with mild-to-severe disease. Subsequently, 14 participants were sampled with regard to gender, age and severity of disease for in-depth interviews to understand how stigma was experienced and coping strategies were applied. The questionnaire was analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and analysis of variance. Content analysis was used for qualitative data. RESULTS: From 61 participants, 58% were men and mean age was 51 years. The quantitative analysis of the SIS indicated an intermediate level of experienced stigma. Participants experienced stigma mainly as ‘social rejection’ (M=14.22, SD=4.91), followed by ‘social isolation’ (M=10.17, SD=4.16) and ‘internalised shame’ (M=8.39, SD=3.32). There was no significant difference in experienced stigma regarding gender, education, occupational status or residual symptoms. However, participants between 30 and 39 years of age experienced higher levels of stigma than other age groups (p=0.034). The qualitative analysis revealed how stigma seemed to arise from misconceptions creating irrational fear of infection, leading to stereotyping, vilification, discrimination and social exclusion of COVID-19 survivors, leaving them feeling vulnerable. Stigma cut through all social levels, from the individual level at the bottom to the institutional and societal level at the top. Social networks protected from experiencing stigma. CONCLUSION: COVID-19-related stigma is a relevant burden in the ongoing pandemic. Providing accurate information and exposing misinformation on disease prevention and treatment seems key to end COVID-19-related stigma. BMJ Publishing Group 2022-08-24 /pmc/articles/PMC9412038/ /pubmed/36002206 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059472 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Infectious Diseases
Peters, Lynn
Burkert, Sanne
Brenner, Cecilia
Grüner, Beate
Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title_full Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title_fullStr Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title_full_unstemmed Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title_short Experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed-methods study
title_sort experienced stigma and applied coping strategies during the covid-19 pandemic in germany: a mixed-methods study
topic Infectious Diseases
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9412038/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36002206
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059472
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