stigmatization of hepatitis c by medical sciences students and healthcare providers: a descriptive-analytical epidemiological study

Background: hepatitis c is among the greatest global health challenges. it is a major risk factor for serious liver diseases. stigmatization of hepatitis c by healthcare providers is one of the main barriers to its early diagnosis and effective treatment. the aim of this study was to assess hepatitis c knowledge and stigmatization among the students and the staff of birjand university of medical sciences, birjand, iran.methods: this descriptive-analytical epidemiological study was undertaken on 200 students, 100 nurses, 50 physicians, and 50 administrative staff affiliated to birjand university of medical sciences, birjand, iran. a researcher-made hepatitis c knowledge and stigmatization questionnaire was used for data collection. the collected data were entered into the spss software (v. 18) and analyzed using the one-sample t-test and pearson correlation analysis at a significance level of less than 0.05.results: participants were 278 women (69.5%) and 122 men (30.5%). the mean score of hepatitis c stigmatization was 82.33 ± 12.81 (out of a total possible score range of 28 - 140). this score was significantly lower than the possible mean score of the stigmatization questionnaire. most participants obtained a low stigmatization score (63.8%) and a high knowledge score (66%). hepatitis c stigmatization by participants was inversely correlated with their hepatitis c knowledge (r = -0.2; p < 0.001). compared to other healthcare providers, physicians obtained the lowest hepatitis c stigmatization score and the highest hepatitis c knowledge score.conclusion: people with greater knowledge about hepatitis c are less likely to stigmatize patients with hepatitis c. therefore, educational interventions are needed to improve healthcare providers’ knowledge about hepatitis c in order to reduce the risk of hepatitis c stigmatization by them.