Infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are crucial public health issues and may lead to considerable fear among the general public and stigmatization of, and discrimination against, specific populations. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of stigma in infectious disease epidemics. We systematically searched PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases since inception to June 08, 2021, and reported the prevalence of stigma towards people with infectious diseases including SARS, H1N1, MERS, Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19. A total of 50 eligible articles were included that contributed 51 estimates of prevalence in 92722 participants. The overall pooled prevalence of stigma across all populations was 34% [95% CI: 28−40%], including enacted stigma (36% [95% CI: 28−44%]) and perceived stigma (31% [95% CI: 22−40%]). The prevalence of stigma in patients, community population, and health care workers, was 38% [95% CI: 12− 65%], 36% [95% CI: 28−45%], and 30% [95% CI: 20−40%], respectively. The prevalence of stigma in participants from low- and middle-income countries was 37% [95% CI: 29−45%], which is higher than that from high-income countries (27% [95% CI: 18−36%]) though this difference was not statistically significant. A similar trend of prevalence of stigma was also observed in individuals with lower education (47% [95% CI: 23−71%]) compared to higher education level (33% [95% CI: 23−4%]). These findings indicate that stigma is a significant public health concern, and effective and comprehensive interventions are needed to counteract the damaging effects of the infodemics during infectious disease epidemics, including COVID-19, and reduce infectious disease-related stigma.

包括 COVID-19 在内的传染病是至关重要的公共卫生问题，可能导致公众产生极大的恐惧以及对特定人群的污名化和歧视。这项荟萃分析旨在估计传染病流行中耻辱的汇总流行率。我们系统地检索了 PubMed、PsycINFO、Embase、MEDLINE、Web of Science 和 Cochrane 数据库，自成立以来至 2021 年 6 月 8 日，报告了对 SARS、H1N1、MERS、Zika、埃博拉和 COVID 等传染病患者的耻辱盛行情况-19。总共纳入了 50 篇符合条件的文章，对 92722 名参与者的患病率做出了 51 项估计。所有人群中耻辱的总体流行率为 34% [95% CI: 28−40%]，包括实际耻辱 (36% [95% CI: 28−44%]) 和感知耻辱 (31% [95% CI: 28−44%]) ：22−40%]）。患者、社区人群和卫生保健工作者中耻辱感的患病率分别为 38% [95% CI: 12−65%]、36% [95% CI: 28−45%] 和 30% [95% CI: 20−40%]，分别。来自低收入和中等收入国家的参与者的耻辱率为 37% [95% CI: 29−45%]，高于高收入国家的参与者（27% [95% CI: 18−36%]） ]）尽管这种差异在统计上并不显着。与受教育程度较高的个体 (33% [95% CI: 23−4%]) 相比，受教育程度较低的个体 (47% [95% CI: 23−71%]) 也观察到类似的耻辱流行趋势。这些发现表明，耻辱是一个重大的公共卫生问题，需要采取有效和全面的干预措施来抵消包括 COVID-19 在内的传染病流行期间信息流行病的破坏性影响，并减少与传染病相关的耻辱。