Abstract / Summary
Abstract Objective To explore the illness identity experience of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients and provide reference for formulating targeted clinical nursing interventions. Methods A descriptive phenomenological research method was used. Purposeful sampling was applied to select newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients who initiated antiviral treatment at the Infectious Disease Outpatient Department of Nanjing Second Hospital from December 2025 to March 2026. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data were analyzed using the Colaizzi’s phenomenological research method. Results A total of 21 newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients were included as the research subjects. 4 themes and 12 subthemes were extracted: Experience and perception of stigma related to HIV disease identity (experienced stigma, anticipated stigma, internalized stigma); Disruption of the life process (worries about living with the disease, treatment burden); Struggles with adapting to the illness identity (ruminative thinking, resistance to HIV/AIDS identity, social isolation, refusal to disclose); Perception of illness identity through social comparison (upward comparison, horizontal comparison, downward comparison). Conclusions Newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients face complex challenges in illness identity recognition. Medical staff should intervene in aspects such as psychological support, education guidance, social integration, and treatment assistance, to help patients achieve positive self-identity and social adaptation.