ArticlePLOS global public health2026
Establishing an empirical cut-off on the 12-item Brief Berger HIV Stigma Scale to screen psychosocial vulnerability among PLHIV in Nigeria.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Establishing an empirical cut-off on the 12-item Brief Berger HIV Stigma Scale to screen psychosocial vulnerability among PLHIV in Nigeria.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study addresses a key challenge in HIV care the lack of a validated screening tool for psychosocial vulnerability. Although the 12-item Brief Berger HIV Stigma Scale is widely used, no clear threshold exists to identify individuals at high risk for mental health problems. Our research aimed to establish a practical, data-driven cut-off score for the scale in a Nigerian context and to explore which dimensions of stigma are most linked to psychosocial vulnerability. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 285 people living with HIV (PLHIV) at three tertiary centres (May-August 2024). Psychosocial vulnerability was defined as moderate-to-severe depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 ≥ 10) or anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 ≥ 10). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis with the Youden Index identified the optimal cut-off; multivariable logistic regression examined independent associations of stigma subscales with vulnerability. Among 285 participants (mean age 47.1 ± 11.17 years, 72.6% female), 44.9% met vulnerability criteria. The Berger Scale demonstrated acceptable discrimination (AUC = 0.717, 95% CI 0.658-0.777). A cut-off of ≥30 yielded high sensitivity (87.5%) and strong negative predictive value (82.8%). Internal validation confirmed stability (cross-validated AUC 0.703, bootstrap AUC 0.701). Decision curve analysis showed positive net benefit over "screen-none" up to threshold probability 0.45, with peak benefit at 0.30. In multivariable analysis, public attitude concerns were the strongest predictor (adjusted OR 1.68, p < 0.001), while disclosure concerns-despite near-universal prevalence (96.1%)-showed no independent association. The ≥ 30 cut-off provides a practical, sensitive rule-out tool for identifying PLHIV needing psychosocial assessment in resource-limited settings. External validation is essential before widespread adoption. Public attitude concerns outweighing internalised stigma highlights the need for culturally informed interventions addressing societal stigma alongside mental health support.
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.