Trial reportJournal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999)2025
An Incognito Standardized Patient Approach for Measuring and Reducing Intersectional Healthcare Stigma: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Control Trial.
Trial report in Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Incognito Standardized Patients to Assess Physician Awareness and Capacity to Recognize Primary Syphilis Presentation in Chinese STI Clinics.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2026Article
- Challenges in HIV prevention and treatment among men who have sex with men in China: structural exclusion, healthcare inequity, and testing avoidance.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Advancing community-engaged research methods: A qualitative study of MSM community contributions to a Chinese HIV stigma study.Stigma and health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConsistent evidence shows stigma impedes healthcare access in people living with HIV (PLWH) and men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluated the impact of stigma reduction training for providers whose design was informed by direct observation of their clinical behaviors obtained through visits by incognito standardized patients (SPs).
settingWe conducted this study in sexually transmitted disease clinics in Guangzhou, China.
methodsThis pilot cluster randomized control trial assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an intervention whose design was informed by a baseline round of incognito visits in which SPs presented standardized cases to consenting doctors. By randomly varying the HIV status and sexual orientation of each case, we could quantify stigma as differences in care quality across scenarios. We then conducted a follow-up round of SP visits and assessed the impact using linear fixed effects regression.
resultsFeasibility and acceptability among the 55 provider participants were high, with no adverse visit events. The provider training improved the offering of testing to HIV-negative MSM (0.05 percentage points, 95% confidence interval, -0.24 to 0.33) and diagnostic effort for HIV-positive MSM (0.23 SD improvement, 95% CI: -0.92 to 1.37). Patient-centered care only improved for HIV-positive straight cases (SD, 0.57; 95% CI: -0.39 to 1.53). All estimates lacked statistical precision, an expected outcome of a pilot randomized control trial.
conclusionsOur training reduced stigma in several domains of care, but least of all for PLWH, suggesting that future trainings should include more clinical content to strengthen clinical skills in PLWH management.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion 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 OpenQuestion graph.