{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T10:06:14Z","timestamp":1789985174286,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Healthcare workers are central to the care of people living with HIV\/AIDS (PLHIV), yet their own stigmatizing attitudes can undermine it. This cross-sectional study assessed HIV\/AIDS knowledge and stigmatizing attitudes toward PLHIV among healthcare workers and the factors associated with stigma. Methods: All physicians and nurses employed at three public hospitals in Mersin, Turkey (N = 2230), were invited to participate; because participation was voluntary and anonymous, the analysed sample was self-selected and is best characterised as a convenience sample. Data were collected over 45 days using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire hosted on an online survey platform, comprising a 10-item HIV\/AIDS knowledge questionnaire adapted from a previously used instrument and the Health Care Provider HIV\/AIDS Stigma Scale (HPASS; Turkish version), which measures stereotyping, discrimination, and prejudice. Associations were examined using group comparisons, correlations, and multivariable linear regression. Results: Among 460 participants (median age 35.0 years, IQR 31.0\u201344.0; 63.5% female; response rate 21.7%), knowledge assessment scores were not associated with any stigma subdimension; instead, older age, being married, and greater professional experience were associated with higher stereotyping and discrimination, with age and experience remaining significant after multivariable adjustment (p &lt; 0.05). Notably, 81.1% felt they would need to inform other staff when encountering a PLHIV, which may raise confidentiality concerns; 67.4% believed HIV is mostly acquired through risky behaviours, and only 69.1% were comfortable working with an HIV-positive colleague. Conclusions: Stigmatizing attitudes were common and were associated with age and professional experience rather than with knowledge assessment scores. These findings generate the hypothesis that interventions addressing the attitudinal and professional-culture dimensions of stigma\u2014particularly among more senior staff\u2014may be more effective than information provision alone. Because the design was cross-sectional and the knowledge questionnaire had limited validity evidence, longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to test this hypothesis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091681","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T09:01:38Z","timestamp":1789981298000},"page":"1681","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Knowledge and HIV-Related Stigmatizing Attitudes Among Healthcare Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-8168-6329","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zulal","family":"Yavuz Akay","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Osmaniye Training and Research Hospital, 80010 Osmaniye, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Fatma Ozlem","family":"Kandemir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, 33110 Mersin, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Mustafa Serhat","family":"Sahinoglu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, 33110 Mersin, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Tugce","family":"Simsek Bozok","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, 33110 Mersin, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Kasim","family":"Akay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duzici State Hospital, 80600 Osmaniye, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"155","article-title":"Nurse practitioners\u2019 stigma around patients diagnosed with HIV\/AIDS","volume":"24","author":"Buzlu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Florence Nightingale Journal of Nursing"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"386","DOI":"10.1177\/1043659609360873","article-title":"Stigmatization of persons with HIV\/AIDS in Saudi Arabia","volume":"21","author":"Badahdah","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Transcultural Nursing"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.5152\/kd.2014.30","article-title":"Sa\u011fl\u0131k \u00e7al\u0131\u015fanlar\u0131n\u0131n HIV\/AIDS olgular\u0131na yakla\u015f\u0131mlar\u0131 [Approaches of healthcare workers to HIV\/AIDS cases]","volume":"27","author":"Bayrak","year":"2014","journal-title":"Klimik Dergisi"},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"41","article-title":"Evaluation of the knowledge and stigmatization level of HIV\/AIDS and related factors","volume":"11","author":"Bozkurt","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Psychiatric Nursing"},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Ceylan, B. 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