| dc.description.abstract | Stigma and discrimination has been shown to influence people's attitudes and perceptions as well as utilization of the services provided under the interventions intended to prevent and reduce the spread of HI V/A IDS. This has greatly impacted on the uptake of these services; consequently, many people continue to die of HIV/AIDS without accessing care and treatment. The purpose of this study therefore is to establish the impact of HIV and AIDS related stigma and discrimination on uptake of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) services among people aged 15-64 years in Olenguruone Division, Nakuru County, Kenya.
The study was guided by the following objectives: to establish the level at which social rejection impact on the uptake of VCT services; to assess the impact of prejudiced attitudes on VCT services uptake and to assess how disclosure concerns impacts on the VCT services uptake and finally to establish the extent to which observed enacted stigma impact on the uptake of VCT services. A descriptive survey design was used in this study and questionnaires were employed to collect quantitative data in an attempt to answer the research questions. Closed-ended questionnaires were used to solicit information on socio-demographic profile of respondents and on indicators of stigma and discrimination against uptake of VCT services.
This study targeted a total of 24,540 individuals and multi-stage sampling was used to sample 354 out of 9,946 households corresponding to a sample size of 354 people who took part in the study. Two locations were selected in the first stage and a further two sub-locations from the selected locations were picked in the second stage, from which the required households were sampled. Systematic random sampling was used to select the particular households to take part in the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. Chi-square tests and t-tests were performed to test significance between the uptake of VCT services and the study objectives. Logistic regression analysis was also obtained on VCT uptake while controlling for all possible factors (demographic factors and indicators of stigma and discrimination).
Findings from the study indicated that most of the respondents (66.1 %) had ever tested. Results also showed that social rejection and disclosure concerns reduces the odds of taking an HIV test by around 2.2 (p<0.001) and 0.2 (p<0.000) respectively. It further showed that having observed enacted stigma increases the odds of testing for HIV by around 5.6 (p<0.000). Having prejudiced attitudes were shown to increase the chances of testing by 0.5 (p<0.001).
Logistic regression revealed religion <p<0.002) and age category (p<0.000) were significant in influencing one to go for testing (p<0.05). The study concludes that social rejection and disclosure concerns discourages people to go for HIV VCT services; however prejudiced attitudes and observed enacted stigma, though prevalent, was shown to influence positively the uptake of VCT services.
The study recommends the need to target messages and interventions designed to promote acceptance of HIV testing services by fighting against stigma and also to increase the testing points. A close relationship between the Church and the National AIDS Control Council was also recommended. The study suggests future researches which are broader and more qualitative be done to identify social cultural factors that promote stigma. It also suggests that future studies should include questions about attitudes and beliefs about HIV testing and finally an exploration of factors that may enhance HIV/AIDS positive status disclosure. | en_US |
