American Muslim women are an understudied population; thus, significant knowledge gaps exist related to their most basic health behaviors and indicators. Considering this, we examined American Muslim women’s contraception utilization patterns. Self-reported data collected in late 2015 were analyzed. Women who identified as Muslim, were at least 18 years old, sexually active, and current residents of the United States (n = 224) met the inclusion criteria. Convenience sampling was employed. Multivariate logistic regression models estimated associations between demographics, marital status, ethnicity, nativity, health insurance, religious practice, and contraception use. Identifying as Muslim, in general, was significantly associated with greater odds of using contraception in general and condoms compared to American Muslim women who identify as Sunni. Identifying as Shia was associated with greater odds of using oral contraceptive pills relative to Sunni respondents. South Asian ethnicity was associated with higher odds of using oral contraceptive pills compared to those of Middle Eastern or North African ethnicity. Findings suggest American Muslim women’s contraception utilization patterns share certain similarities with both American women in general and disadvantaged racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States, implying that factors that influence American Muslim women’s use of contraceptives are possibly countervailing and likely multifaceted. More research is needed to accurately identify associates of contraceptive use in this population. This work serves as a starting point for researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand reproductive health decision in this understudied population.

Background: Stigma is the deleterious, structural force that devalues members of groups that hold undesirable characteristics. Since stigma is created and reinforced by society—through in-person and online social interactions—referencing the novel coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” or “China virus” has the potential to create and perpetuate stigma. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess if there was an increase in the prevalence and frequency of the phrases “Chinese virus” and “China virus” on Twitter after the March 16, 2020, US presidential reference of this term. Methods: Using the Sysomos software (Sysomos, Inc), we extracted tweets from the United States using a list of keywords that were derivatives of “Chinese virus.” We compared tweets at the national and state levels posted between March 9 and March 15 (preperiod) with those posted between March 19 and March 25 (postperiod). We used Stata 16 (StataCorp) for quantitative analysis, and Python (Python Software Foundation) to plot a state-level heat map. Results: A total of 16,535 “Chinese virus” or “China virus” tweets were identified in the preperiod, and 177,327 tweets were identified in the postperiod, illustrating a nearly ten-fold increase at the national level. All 50 states witnessed an increase in the number of tweets exclusively mentioning “Chinese virus” or “China virus” instead of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or coronavirus. On average, 0.38 tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus” were posted per 10,000 people at the state level in the preperiod, and 4.08 of these stigmatizing tweets were posted in the postperiod, also indicating a ten-fold increase. The 5 states with the highest number of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Pennsylvania (n=5249), New York (n=11,754), Florida (n=13,070), Texas (n=14,861), and California (n=19,442). Adjusting for population size, the 5 states with the highest prevalence of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Arizona (5.85), New York (6.04), Florida (6.09), Nevada (7.72), and Wyoming (8.76). The 5 states with the largest increase in pre- to postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Kansas (n=697/58, 1202%), South Dakota (n=185/15, 1233%), Mississippi (n=749/54, 1387%), New Hampshire (n=582/41, 1420%), and Idaho (n=670/46, 1457%). Conclusions: The rise in tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus,” along with the content of these tweets, indicate that knowledge translation may be occurring online and COVID-19 stigma is likely being perpetuated on Twitter.

Internalized stigma related to HIV is associated with poorer outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH). However, little is known about the association between experiences of daily acts of discrimination by others and the activation of internalized stigma, including factors that may moderate this association. One hundred nine men living with HIV responded to experience sampling method (ESM) questions 3 times a day for 7 days via smart-phones. ESM questions included experiences of recent acts of discrimination, internalized HIV stigma, avoidance coping with HIV, and recent social support. We also administered several traditional questionnaire measures assessing psychosocial constructs. In Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses controlling for age, race, socioeconomic status, and time on antiretroviral therapy, experiencing discrimination predicted internalized stigma within-persons. Individuals higher on attachment-related avoidance, attachment-related anxiety, avoidance coping, perceived community stigma, and helplessness, and individuals lower on social support, had stronger associations between discrimination and current internalized stigma. Similarly, results from two state moderator variables supported our trait analyses: State-level (ESM) social support and avoidance coping were significant moderators. Thus, when PLWH experience incidents of discrimination due to HIV, this may lead to increased feelings of internalized stigma. We extend the literature by demonstrating that the associations between experienced and internalized stigma are not just at the generalized trait level, but also occur at the state-level, accounting for within person variability. Results provide implications for interventions aiming to modify maladaptive interpersonal traits as well as interventions to increase social support to reduce the impact of discrimination on PLWH.

Background: This systematic review summarises evidence on the HIV testing barriers and intervention strategies among Caribbean populations and provides pertinent implications for future research endeavours designed to increase rates of HIV testing in the region. Methods: We used a systematic approach to survey all literature published between January 2008 and November 2018 using four electronic databases (MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Global Health). Only peer-reviewed articles published in English that examined HIV testing uptake and interventions in the Caribbean with men, men who have sex with men, female sex workers, transgender women and incarcerated individuals were included. Results: Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Lack of confidentiality, access to testing sites, stigma, discrimination, poverty and low HIV risk perception were identified as key barriers to HIV testing. These barriers often contributed to late HIV testing and were associated with delayed treatment initiation and decreased survival rate. Intervention strategies to address these barriers included offering rapid HIV testing at clinics and HIV testing outreach by trained providers and peers. Conclusion: HIV testing rates remain unacceptably low across the Caribbean for several reasons, including stigma and discrimination. Future HIV testing interventions should target places where at-risk populations congregate, train laypersons to conduct rapid tests and consider using oral fluid HIV self-testing, which allows individuals to test at home.