Stigma regarding HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is commonly implicated as a factor limiting the scale-up of this highly effective HIV prevention modality. To quantify and characterize PrEP stigma, we developed and validated a brief HIV PrEP Stigma Scale (HPSS) among a group of 279 men who have sex with men (MSM). Scale development was informed by a theoretical model to enhance content validity. We assessed two scale versions, Semantic Differential and Likert, randomizing the order in which scales were presented to participants. Both scales demonstrated high internal consistency. The Likert scale had substantially better construct validity and was selected as the preferred option. Scale scores demonstrated construct validity through association with constructs of interest: healthcare distrust, HIV knowledge, perceived proportion of friends/partners on PrEP, perceived community evaluation of PrEP, and perceived effectiveness of PrEP. The scale accounted for 25% of the total variance in reported willingness to be on PrEP, indicating the substantial role PrEP stigma may have on decisions to initiate PrEP. Given increased efforts to roll-out PrEP, having a valid tool to determine the level and types of PrEP stigma in individuals, groups, and communities can help direct implementation plans, identify goals for stigma reduction, and monitor progress over time.

中文翻译：

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艾滋病毒暴露前预防柱头量表的验证：李克特和语义差异量表版本的表现。

关于HIV暴露前预防（PrEP）的污名通常被认为是限制这种高效HIV预防方法扩大规模的因素。为了量化和表征PrEP柱头，我们在279名与男性发生性关系的男性（MSM）中开发并验证了简短的HIV PrEP柱头量表（HPSS）。量表的发展是通过理论模型来提高内容有效性的。我们评估了两个量表版本，语义差异和李克特，将量表显示给参与者的顺序随机化。两种量表均显示出较高的内部一致性。Likert量表具有更好的结构效度，因此被选为首选方案。量表评分通过与感兴趣的构想相关联来证明构想的有效性：医疗保健不信任，HIV知识，对PrEP的朋友/合作伙伴的感知比例，对PrEP的社区评价以及对PrEP的感知效果。该量表占所报告的愿意使用PrEP的意愿的总方差的25％，表明PrEP污名对启动PrEP的决定可能具有实质性作用。由于加大了推广PrEP的力度，拥有一个有效的工具来确定个人，团体和社区中PrEP耻辱的水平和类型，可以帮助指导实施计划，确定减少耻辱感的目标并随时间监控进度。