There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB)-related stigma is an important social determinant of health. Research
generally highlights how stigma can have a considerable impact on individuals and
communities, including delays in seeking health care and adherence to treatment. There
is scant research into the assessment of TB-related stigma in low incidence countries.
This study aimed to systematically map out the research into stigma. A particular
emphasis was placed on the methods employed to measure stigma, the conceptual frameworks
used to understand stigma, and whether structural factors were theorized. Twenty-two
studies were identified; the majority adopted a qualitative approach and aimed to
assess knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about TB. Few studies included stigma as
a substantive topic. Only one study aimed to reduce stigma. A number of studies suggested
that TB control measures and representations of migrants in the media reporting of
TB were implicated in the production of stigma. The paucity of conceptual models and
theories about how the social and structural determinants intersect with stigma was
apparent. Future interventions to reduce stigma, and measurements of effectiveness,
would benefit from a stronger theoretical underpinning in relation to TB stigma and
the intersection between the social and structural determinants of health.