Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Mar;17(2):157-68.
doi: 10.1177/1359105311414952. Epub 2011 Jul 28.

The impact of stigma in healthcare on people living with chronic illnesses

Valerie A Earnshaw  1 , Diane M Quinn
Affiliations

The impact of stigma in healthcare on people living with chronic illnesses

Valerie A Earnshaw et al. J Health Psychol. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

Approximately half of adults are living with a chronic illness, many of whom may feel stigmatized by their chronic illness in different contexts. We explored the impact of internalized, experienced, and anticipated stigma within healthcare settings on the quality of life of 184 participants living with chronic illnesses (e.g. diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma). Results of a path analysis demonstrate that participants who internalized stigma and experienced stigma from healthcare workers anticipated greater stigma from healthcare workers. Participants who anticipated greater stigma from healthcare workers, in turn, accessed healthcare less and experienced a decreased quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Hypothesized model of the impact of internalized, experienced, and anticipated stigma on healthcare access and quality of life.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Path analysis of the impact of internalized, experienced, and anticipated stigma on healthcare access and quality of life. Model includes dashed lines representing trimmed paths, standardized regression weights for all non-trimmed paths, and the correlation between internalized and experienced stigma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anderson G (2004) Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
    1. Berger BE, Ferrans CE and Lashley FR (2001) Measuring stigma in people with HIV: Psychometric assessment of the HIV Stigma Scale. Research in Nursing & Health 24(6): 518–529. - PubMed
    1. Brown L, Macintyre K and Trujillo L (2003) Interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma: What have we learned? AIDS Education and Prevention 15(1): 49–69. - PubMed
    1. Chesney MA and Smith AW (1999) Critical delays in HIV testing and care: The potential role of stigma. American Behavioral Scientist 42(7): 1158–1170.
    1. Conner KO, Koeske G and Brown C (2009) Racial differences in attitudes toward professional mental health treatment: The mediating effect of stigma. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 52(7): 695–712. - PubMed

Publication types