Abstract: Objective: To confirm the effectiveness of peer support to stigma among men who have sex with men living with HIV. Methods: Sixty four men who have sex with men living with HIV were selected from a tertiary grade A hospital in Beijing from March 2016 to November 2017. They were divided into intervention (n=32) and control group (n=32) randomly. The intervention group received peer support in the form of Wechat and offline activities in groups for 4 consecutive weeks, while the control group received routine hospital care like knowledge of the disease, medicine and living with AIDS. Both groups were followed up at the end of the intervention, 1 month and 3 months after the intervention. The scores of stigma, negative emotion and mastery were measured. Results: Compared with the control group, the scores of stigma, negative emotion in the intervention group decreased significantly, meanwhile mastery increased significantly (P<0.05). Conclusion: Peer support can effectively reduce research objects' stigma and negative emotion, and improve their mastery. This intervention method is practical and feasible, and can be used as an important measure to promote the mental health of patients living with HIV in the future.

Key words: peer support; stigma; men who have sex with men; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome