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
. 2023 Apr 20;18(4):e0284582.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284582. eCollection 2023.

Social and self-stigma during COVID-19 pandemic: Egyptians' perspectives

Ayat Mahmoud Tawfik  1 , Noha Hayek  2 , Sarah Salah Eldien Mahdy  3 , Noura Mahmoud Elsherbiny  4 , Marwa Rashad Salem  5 , Almass Fathi Hassan Taie  3
Affiliations

Social and self-stigma during COVID-19 pandemic: Egyptians' perspectives

Ayat Mahmoud Tawfik et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Social stigma associated with infectious diseases existed throughout the history of pandemics due to fears of contagion and death. This study aims to assess social and self-stigma resulting from COVID-19 infection and other associated factors in Egypt during the pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 533 adult Egyptians via an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included social stigma toward current and recovered COVID-19 patients and the negative self-image of being a COVID-19 patient.

Results: The mean calculated overall COVID-19-related stigma score for the studied sample was 4.7±3.1. The highest reported stigma category was mild stigma: Social stigma towards current COVID-19 patients (88.2%), Social stigma toward recovered COVID-19 patients (64.2%), Negative self-image for being a COVID-19 patient; perceived self-stigma (71.6%) and total stigma score (88.2%) respectively. The overall stigma score was negatively associated with a higher level of education and getting information from healthcare workers and positively associated with getting information from social networks.

Conclusion: Social and self-stigma related to COVID-19 infection was mild from the Egyptian perspective but found in a large proportion of the population and mainly affected by getting information from healthcare workers or through social media and being more among those with lower education levels. The study recommends more legislative control on social media for disseminating health-related information and conducting awareness campaigns to counteract these adverse effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Total COVID-19-related stigma and subscales among the studied participants (n = 553).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lucksted A, Drapalski AL. Self-stigma regarding mental illness: Definition, impact, and relationship to societal stigma. 2015. - PubMed
    1. Ransing R, Ramalho R, de Filippis R, Ojeahere MI, Karaliuniene R, Orsolini L, et al.. Infectious disease outbreak related stigma and discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic: Drivers, facilitators, manifestations, and outcomes across the world. Brain Behav Immun. 2020;89:555. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.07.033 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stockton MA, Giger K, Nyblade L. A scoping review of the role of HIV-related stigma and discrimination in noncommunicable disease care. PLoS One. 2018;13(6):e0199602. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199602 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sotgiu G, Dobler CC. Social stigma in the time of coronavirus disease 2019. Vol. 56, European Respiratory Journal. Eur Respiratory Soc; 2020. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Overholt L, Wohl DA, Fischer WA, Westreich D, Tozay S, Reeves E, et al.. Stigma and Ebola survivorship in Liberia: results from a longitudinal cohort study. PLoS One. 2018;13(11):e0206595. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206595 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Supplementary concepts