HIV Disclosure Patterns and Psychosocial Correlates Among People Living with HIV in Nanjing, China: A Latent Class Analysis

Little is known about the patterns of HIV disclosure and the predictors of such group memberships. Therefore, our study aimed to explore the relationship between HIV disclosure patterns and psychosocial factors. From July to August 2016, totally 466 people living with HIV (PLWH) were recruited from a tertiary hospital. Latent class analysis was performed to ascertain HIV disclosure patterns, and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine predictors of HIV disclosure patterns. Four classes were identified and characterized as the systematic disclosure (11.2%), systematic concealment (39.5%), disclosure to spouse (29.0%), and disclosure to parents (20.4%). Relative to the systematic concealment class, respondents of the systematic disclosure and disclosure to spouse classes were more likely to report a high level of social support (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.112, 95% CI = 1.039-1.189; aOR = 1.144, 95% CI = 1.084-1.208). PLWH in the disclosure to spouse class tended to have increased perceived stigma (aOR = 1.040, 95% CI = 1.008-1.073). These findings provide practical implications for effective intervention targeting the different subgroups. Urgent attention should be paid to perceived stigma and social support to encourage PLWH to disclose their HIV status.