HIV-related stigma and health-related quality of life in women living with HIV in developed countries: a systematic review.

HIV-related stigma has been shown to negatively affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people living with HIV. Women living with HIV (WLWH) suffer greater consequences from stigma on multiple health outcomes when compared to men. The objective of this review was to examine the association between HIV-related stigma and HRQoL in WLWH in developed countries. A systematic search was conducted in three medical databases. The PRISMA guideline was used as a methodical frame of reference, and the STROBE checklist as a quality assessment tool. Eight studies on a total of 2903 WLWH were included. All studies were cross-sectional of design and published between 2011-2019. All studies found a negative and statistically significant association between HIV-related stigma and HRQoL. The association was found to be weak to moderate in strength when examined using correlations statistics. Heterogeneity across the choice of measures and variables examined in the included studies made comparison difficult. Risk of bias was deemed present in majority of studies. Thus, this review reveals a negative association between HIV-related stigma and HRQoL in WLWH in developed countries. The association appears to be influenced by a range of complex factors, such as psychosocial variables and sociodemographic determinants.