Perceived stigma and its associated factors among people living with HIV/AIDS in Bharatpur art center, Chitwan district, Nepal

Stigma due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an attitude and belief that negatively affects people with HIV. This stigma and discrimination affect the emotional well-being and mental health of people living with HIV, acting as a significant barrier to HIV prevention, treatment, care, support, and social integration. The aim of this study was to identify the perceived stigma level of PLHIV and its associated factors in the Bharatpur ART center, Chitwan, Nepal. To determine the prevalence of perceived stigma and its associated factors among PLHIV of Bharatpur ART Center, Chitwan District, Nepal. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 348 people from the Bharatpur ART center, Chitwan District, Nepal, using a systematic sampling procedure. A face-to-face interview was taken by using semi-structured tools for independent variables, and the Bunn standard HIV Stigma Scale tool was used to measure the dependent variables. Stigma was measured in terms of felt stigma, Public Attitudes Concern (PAC), Disclosure Concern (DC), Negative Self-Image (NSI), and Enacted Stigma (ES), as well as overall stigma. Overall, 58.9% of participants reported high perceived stigma. Among the stigma domains, negative self-image was the most prevalent (65.2%), followed by disclosure concern (56.9%), public attitude concern (53.7%), and enacted stigma (49.7%). Bivariate analysis showed that age, place of residence, ethnicity, education level, reason for HIV testing, experiences of exclusion due to HIV, feelings of hopelessness, and depression were significantly associated with perceived stigma (p < 0.05). A substantial proportion of PLHIV attending the Bharatpur ART Center experienced high levels of perceived stigma. Several socio-demographic, HIV-related, and psychological factors were significantly associated with stigma. These findings highlight the importance of stigma-reduction interventions and the integration of mental health support within HIV care services. However, as the study used a cross-sectional design and bivariate analysis, causal relationships cannot be inferred.