Marseille 2007
| Abstract #313 - Disclosure and religion among people living with HIV/AIDS in France. | ||||
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Session: 28.1: Religion and traditional practices (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 11.00-12.30 in 5 Chaired by Veronica Noseda, Herve Richaud Authors: Presenting Author: Dr PREAU MARIE - INSERM U379 / ORS PACA, France |
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| Additional Authors: Msc Bouhnik Anne Deborah, Dr Lert France, Dr Spire Bruno, | ||||
| Aim: Religion is an important factor in health and illness. Moreover despite the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy, disclosure remains an important problem for HIV-infected people. The decision to disclose can be influenced by a wide range of factors including an individuals characteristics such as the importance of religion to him. The aim of this study was to examine associations between the importance of religion and disclosure of HIV seropositivity in social and interpersonal contexts of HIV-infected people. | ||||
| Method / Issue: In 2003, a face-to-face survey was conducted among patients selected in a random stratified sample of 102 French hospital departments delivering HIV care. Eligible respondents were HIV-infected outpatients, aged 18 or older, living in France and diagnosed HIV positive for at least 6 months. Among solicited patients, 2,932 agreed to participate (response rate: 62%). Respondents were asked whether they had disclosed their HIV positive status to their father, mother, friends and sexual partner. They were also asked about their religion and if religion represented an important aspect of their life. We analysed the association between the importance of religion in life and HIV-disclosure separately for heterosexual and homosexual individuals using chi square test. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Among the 2,932 respondents, 1,888 were homosexual men and the remaining 1,044 were heterosexual individuals. The main religion reported was Catholicism (71%), 7% were Muslim, 15% reported having no religion, while the remaining 7% reported other religions. Among heterosexual individuals, 45% considered that religion represents an important or very important aspect of their life. This percentage was 27% among homosexual participants (p<.001). Heterosexual individuals who considered religion as an important aspect of their life reported HIV status disclosure less frequently to their father (13% vs 22% - p<.001), mother (25% vs 33% - p<.001), and friends (26% vs 37% - p<.001). Among the 902 respondents who reported having a non-HIV positive partner, HIV-disclosure to this partner was also less frequent among those who considered religion as important (88% vs 95% - p<.001). Among homosexual men, 14% had disclosed their HIV-positive status to their father, 20% to their mother and 48% to their friends. In these cases, the level of HIV-disclosure did not vary according to the importance of religion. Nevertheless, among the 383 homosexual men who reported having a non-HIV-positive partner, those who considered religion as important tended to disclose their HIV-positive status to their partner less often (90% vs 95% - p=0.055). | ||||
| Discussion: Religion may be an important dimension of patient experience and may have consequences on patients behaviours. Individuals who give importance to religion appear to have difficulties in disclosing their HIV-positive status due to a context of stigma and fear of discrimination. Given the importance of HIV-disclosure in risk-taking within HIV-serodiscordant couples and the need for social support to cope with chronic conditions, religious leaders should be aware of the potential negative impact of the religious discourse on HIV and could be viewed as a means of conveying public health messages and therefore become integrated as an actor in prevention. | ||||
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