Yale University

A tale of two cities: Stigma and health outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia.

TitleA tale of two cities: Stigma and health outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsBurke, Sara E., Sarah K. Calabrese, John F. Dovidio, Olga S. Levina, Anneli Uusküla, Linda M. Niccolai, Katri Abel-Ollo, and Robert Heimer
JournalSocial science & medicine (1982)
Volume130C
Pagination154-161
Date Published2015 Feb 16
ISSN1873-5347
AbstractExperiences of stigma are often associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes. The present work tested the associations between stigma and health-related outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia and St. Petersburg, Russia. These two cities share some of the highest rates of HIV outside of sub-Saharan Africa, largely driven by injection drug use, but Estonia has implemented harm reduction services more comprehensively. People who inject drugs were recruited using respondent-driven sampling; those who indicated being HIV-positive were included in the present sample (n = 381 in St. Petersburg; n = 288 in Kohtla-Järve). Participants reported their health information and completed measures of internalized HIV stigma, anticipated HIV stigma, internalized drug stigma, and anticipated drug stigma. Participants in both locations indicated similarly high levels of all four forms of stigma. However, stigma variables were more strongly associated with health outcomes in Russia than in Estonia. The St. Petersburg results were consistent with prior work linking stigma and health. Lower barriers to care in Kohtla-Järve may help explain why social stigma was not closely tied to negative health outcomes there. Implications for interventions and health policy are discussed.
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.018
Alternate JournalSoc Sci Med

External Links