Stigma Against Health Care Providers; Caring for COVID-19 Patients in Iran

Aims: The pandemic corona is known as one of the most important challenges in the world. At the same time, the stigma associated with COVID-19 threatens different groups, including patients, recoveries, and healthcare workers. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of stigmatization during the COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare providers in Iran. Instrument Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study, in which 527 people were selected using simple random sampling, was conducted in 2022. The overall COVID-19-related stigma score was calculated from 18 to 62 with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.906. SPSS 25 software was used for data analysis by independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and Chi-square. Findings: The highest percentage of the obtained score was assigned to, the practices to avoid infection with COVID-19 (48.1%) and anxiety or fear of being affected (47%). Among the domains of stigma, the most important predictor of anxiety or fear of being affected was the policy of health settings (R2=0.735). Conclusion: Ongoing education, adherence to infection prevention and control protocols, and personalized strategies have the most significant role in improving healthcare workers’ compliance in averting COVID-19 transmission.