correlates of hiv-related self-stigma among female sex workers in malaysia

Background: not much is known about correlates of hiv-related self-stigma among female sexworkers. using the theory of planned behavior in the malaysian context, this study investigatedthe relationships of hiv knowledge, attitudes towards hiv, attitudes towards people living withhiv, perceived social support, self-esteem, and age with hiv-related self-stigma, also how muchof the variance in hiv-related self-stigma is explained by the variables.methods: self-administered close-ended questionnaires were administered to 134 female sexworkers, as a subgroup of hiv-at-risk individuals, selected using a combination of snowball andrespondent-driven sampling methods.results: self-administered close-ended questionnaires were administered to 134 female sexworkers, as a subgroup of hiv-at-risk individuals, selected using a combination of snowballand respondent-driven sampling methods. results: a majority of the respondents substantiallystigmatized themselves, despite good hiv knowledge, high self-esteem, and favorable attitudestowards both hiv and people living with hiv. attitudes towards hiv was more favorable thanattitudes towards people living with hiv. the respondents received higher social supports froma special person, followed by friends, and family members. age, attitudes towards hiv, andattitudes towards people living with hiv were significantly and negatively correlated with hivrelatedself-stigma. age, attitudes towards hiv, and attitudes towards people living with hivcollectively explained 18% of the variance in hiv-related self-stigma.conclusion: hiv knowledge, perceived social support and self-esteem did not enter the finalmodel to explain variance in hiv-related self-stigma. this study advances our understanding byclarifying the relative contribution of age, attitudes towards hiv, and people living with hiv inthe variance of hiv-related self-stigma among female sex workers at risk of hiv