Intersectional Discrimination in HIV Healthcare Settings Among Persons with Diagnosed HIV in the United States, Medical Monitoring Project, 2018-2019

Experiences with stigma and discrimination in healthcare settings are associated with negative health outcome for persons with HIV (PWH). PWH may experience discrimination due to the intersection of multiple marginalized social identities. Describing these experiences is important for informing interventions and strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination. We report experiences with discrimination in HIV healthcare settings attributed to multiple characteristics, e.g., sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, income, or social class, and/or injection drug use, among a nationally representative sample of persons with diagnosed HIV in the United States using data from the Medical Monitoring Project (MMP). We calculated weighted prevalences and associated 95% confidence intervals for any discrimination and discrimination attributed to multiple characteristics (intersectional discrimination). Among those experiencing discrimination, nearly 1 in 4 persons reported intersectional discrimination, with a higher burden among key populations of focus for HIV prevention and treatment. Discrimination was attributed to HIV status (62.5%), sexual orientation (60.4%), and race/ethnicity (54.3%). Persons who experienced intersectional discrimination were less likely to have a regular HIV care provider, have trust in HIV care or treatment information from healthcare providers, and be antiretroviral treatment or HIV care visit adherent. Future studies should explore methods to operationalize and assess experiences with intersectional stigma and discrimination and use the outcomes to inform qualitative research that provides more context and a deeper understanding of experiences with intersectional discrimination among PWH.