Gender disparity and stigma experience of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection: A prospective cross-sectional study from a hospital in Nigeria

Backgound Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected persons often suffer stigma. Stigma can come from the society or be self-induced. This study assessed the gender differences and stigma experience of patients with HBV. Methods Prospective cross-sectional design with a qualitative element using a pretested interviewer administered questionnaire and an in-depth oral interview of HBV infected patients. Quantitative data obtained were entered into SPSS version 20 and analyzed using simple descriptive and inferential statistics, while content analysis was used for the qualitative data. Results Total of 242 respondents answered the quantitative questionnaire. There were 142(58.7%) males and 100 (41.3%) females; age range was 18–72 years with mean (SD) of 35.4(10.7) years. Overall stigma rate was 23.1%. Stigma resulted from a positive HBsAg test, and the experience was unaffected by other markers of HBV infection. Stigma was higher in the domain of disease transmission for both single and married respondents and was particularly higher among males than females. Stigma among females affected pre-marital engagements and also caused marital disharmony among married respondents. In-depth oral interview of 23 HBV infected respondents revealed that many exhibited self-stigma, had wrong knowledge of HBV infection modes, complications, and interpretation of HBV internet information which aggravated stigma reactions. Conclusions Stigma of HBV is high and majorly in the domain of disease transmission. It is higher in males than females. Enlightenment campaign targeting singles and married couples and HBV infection modes is advocated.