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Racial discrimination, knowledge, and health outcomes: The mediating role of hepatitis B-related stigma among patients with chronic hepatitis B
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Racial discrimination, knowledge, and health outcomes: The mediating role of hepatitis B-related stigma among patients with chronic hepatitis B

Julia G Katcher, Ann C Klassen, Hie-Won Hann, Mimi Chang and Hee-Soon Juon
Journal of viral hepatitis, v 31(5), pp 248-254
26 Feb 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13932
PMID: 38409935
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
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https://doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13932View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)CC BY V4.0,  Open

Abstract

chronic hepatitis B depression Asian hepatitis B virus Quality of Life
It is well described in current literature that Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects Asian Americans more than any other racial group in the United States and that there is a stigma attached to this condition. The effects of stigma can be lasting, penetrating physiologically and psychologically, yet few studies have focused on the consequences of this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of stigma in the effect of racial discrimination and knowledge (of HBV sequelae) on health status of Korean Americans with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Three hundred sixty-five CHB patients were recruited and enrolled from two clinics in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Question-9 (PHQ-9), physical health via self-rated health survey and stigma via hepatitis B quality of life (HBQOL)-stigma survey. Perceived racial discrimination and knowledge of CHB sequelae were independent variables. The cohort had an average age of 60.1 years (range 19-84, SD 10.7), 56% were male and 94% were born in South Korea. Mediational analysis found that stigma was a significant mediator between both racial discrimination (indirect effect = .037, Bootstrap 95% CI = [.010-.064]) and sequelae knowledge (indirect effect = .097, Bootstrap 95% CI = [.018-.176]) and depressive symptoms. Stigma also had a direct effect on depressive symptoms (β = .136, p < .01) and self-rated health (β = .018, p < .05). In addition, age, gender, education and employment were related to health outcomes. The findings of this study indicate that HBV-related stigma is an important mediator of mental health outcomes in this population. Future studies should identify other psychosocial factors to develop effective intervention programs to reduce stigma and improve quality of life among CHB patients.

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7 citations in Web of Science
4 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Infectious Diseases
Virology
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