Stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) among general adult population: the results from the 6(th) Thai National Health Examination Survey (NHES VI)

BACKGROUND: Thailand has an ongoing action plan to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) discrimination and stigma. We aimed to monitor the level of stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) among the general adult population and to investigate its related factors. METHODS: This study was based on data from the 6(th) Thai National Health Examination Survey, a large-scale country-wide survey in 2019-2020. We used a multistage sampling technique and included 11 843 adults aged 20 to 59. We collected data through face-to-face interviews which included six items related to HIV stigma domains. We weighted all analyses to account for the probability of sampling the Thai population aged 20 to 59 years. RESULTS: We found that anticipated stigma had the highest percentage of negative stigmatizing attitude responses (78.5%), followed by perceived stigma (66.6%), fear of HIV infection (54.4%), and social judgment (28.2%). Regarding the UNAIDS global indicator for discriminatory attitude, 48.6% of respondents had negative perceptions to questions about experienced stigma or discrimination. Multiple logistic regression showed that factors associated with discriminatory attitudes toward PLWHA were being aged 20-39 (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.18-1.47) or 50-59 (aOR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09-1.40) compared to being aged 40-49, being Muslim compared to Buddhist (aOR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.46-2.06), being married compared to being single (aOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.04-1.28), holding certificate degree or higher compared to not studying or studying at a primary level (aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.68-0.97), living in the Northeast (aOR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.12-1.45) and Bangkok (aOR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.12-1.51) compared to living in the North, having no HIV/AIDS infected relative or acquaintance compared to having an HIV/AIDS infected relative or acquaintance (aOR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.41-1.73), and not obtaining an HIV test compared to obtaining it (aOR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.02-1.19). CONCLUSIONS: We found that HIV stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes toward PLWHA decreased, but remained concerning among Thai adult people. A public education and awareness campaign, as well as an intervention to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the country's health care facilities, must still be maintained.