A Survey on Awareness among Dentists Treating HIV Affected Patients

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study is to create awareness among Dentists treating HIV patients. Introduction: Healthcare workers including physicians, dentists, nurses and laboratory workers are considered to be among the groups at the risk of blood-borne pathogen transmission. Dental treatment procedures frequently involve exposure to blood and saliva that may be contaminated with HIV. Dental care of HIV-positive individuals plays a vital role in improving their nutritional intake, medication tolerance and effectives, treatment success rate, and quality of life. The main motive of the present study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice towards HIV patients among dentists. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study survey was conducted among 101 dentists practicing in and around the area. It was done as an online survey. The data was collected using pre-tested self administrated 11 item questionnaire and was statistically analyzed using SPSS software version-23. Results: The results show that the majority of the subjects in the study population were males (55%) and remaining were females (44%).There were no significant differences between males and females in the knowledge and attitude scores. Conclusion: The results of the survey demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge and attitude of dentists about HIV/AIDS infections but some general population suggesting that higher knowledge level of dentists plays a very important role in forming the attitude and practices regarding patients with HIV/AIDS.