Validity and Reliability of Persian Version of Hiv/Aids Related Stigma Scale For People Living With Hiv/Aids in Iran

Objective: to assess the perceived hiv/aids related stigma a comprehensive and well developed stigma instrument is necessary. this study aimed to assess validity and reliability of the persian version of hiv/aids related stigma scale which was developed by kang et al for people living with hiv/aids in iran. materials and methods: the scale was forward translated by two bilingual academic members then both translations were discussed by expert team. back-translation was done by two other bilingual translators then we carried out discussion with both of them. to evaluate understandability the scale was administered to 10 persons living with hiv/aids (plwha). final persian version was administered to 80 plwha in qom, iran in 2014. test–retest reliability was assessed in a sample of 20 plwha after a week by intra-class correlation coefficient (icc). results: cronbach’s alpha coefficient for overall scale was 0.85. also cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the five subscales were as follows: social rejection (9 items, α = 0.84), negative self-worth (4 items, α = 0.70), perceived interpersonal insecurity (2 items, α = 0.57), financial insecurity (3 items, α =0.70), discretionary disclosure (2 items, α = 0.83). test–retest reliability was also approved with icc = 0.78. correlation between items and their hypothesized subscale is greater than 0.5. correlation between an item and its own subscale was significantly higher than its correlation with other subscales. conclusion: this study demonstrate that the persian version of hiv/aids related stigma scale is valid and reliable to assess hiv/aids related stigma perceived by people living whit hiv/aids in iran.