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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1473369
This article is part of the Research Topic Breaking Barriers in LGBT+ Health: Innovations and Insights View all 8 articles

HIV-RELATED STIGMA AMONG YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN IN HIV CARE IN PLATEAU STATE NIGERIA

Provisionally accepted
Tolulope Olumide Afolaranmi Tolulope Olumide Afolaranmi 1*Beth Chaplin Beth Chaplin 2Ayuba I Zoakah Ayuba I Zoakah 1Phyllis J Kanki Phyllis J Kanki 2
  • 1 University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria
  • 2 School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: HIV-related stigma is often expressed as irrational behaviors, negative attitudes, and unfavorable judgments towards people living with or at risk of HIV which remains very common in low-and middle-income countries including Nigeria. This study assessed the level of HIV-related stigma and its associated factors among Young Men who have Sex with Men (YMSM) in HIV care.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 122 YMSM to assess the level of HIV-related stigma and its associated factors among YMSM in HIV care using respondent driven sampling between July 2023 and April 2024. Quantitative method of data collection was employed and SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.The mean age of the study participants was 22.2 ± 2.0 years with 56 (45.6%) being 22 years and below. The total HIV-related stigma score for the participants was 121.9 ± 18.8 with high-level of stigma reported among 40 (32.8%) of the participants. Significant variation in the mean total HIV-related stigma score was found with duration on HIV treatment with those who had been on treatment for >3 years having a mean score of 117.8 ± 15.2 compared to 110.3 ± 20.1 for those who had been on treatment for <2 years (mean difference: -7.50; 95% Confidence interval: -14.45, -5.51; p = 0.035).This study found a high level of HIV-related stigma among the YMSM in HIV care which is significantly influenced by the duration of time in HIV care.

    Keywords: HIV infection, stigma, Young men who have sex with men, sexual and gender minority, Nigeria

    Received: 30 Jul 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Afolaranmi, Chaplin, Zoakah and Kanki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tolulope Olumide Afolaranmi, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.