Religiosity, gender and knowledge gaps: factors influencing HIV/AIDS discrimination among medical interns

Discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS remains a pervasive problem among medical trainees. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify factors influencing discriminatory attitudes among sixth-year medical trainees at Turkey's largest medical school during the 2023-2024 academic year. Data were collected from 295 participants, with a response rate of 83.3%. Discriminatory attitudes were assessed using a validated 16-item scale, while independent variables included gender, religiosity and participation in HIV/AIDS training. Knowledge was measured with 23 questions in five categories, including legal rights and prevention methods. Significant knowledge gaps, including legal and preventive domains, were revealed. For instance, 30.2% of participants incorrectly believed HIV cannot be transmitted via breastfeeding, and 26.4% thought physicians could legally refuse to treat people living with HIV/AIDS. The mean discrimination score was 28.2 ± 12.3 (range: 16-80), indicating stronger stigmatizing attitudes in certain subgroups. Male trainees and those reporting strong religiosity exhibited significantly higher discrimination scores (p = 0.0001). Participation in HIV/AIDS-specific training was associated with lower discrimination scores in bivariate analysis (p = 0.033). A strong negative association between HIV knowledge and discriminatory attitudes remained significant. These findings underscore the immediate need to integrate structured, evidence-based, sensitively designed HIV education into medical training.