Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Students and Interns in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh Region) among Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is considered one of the leading causes of chronic liver conditions in the world. The primary route of transmission of HCV can be by exposure of infected blood or sharing a contamination syringe during the injection of drugs. the purpose of this research to evaluate and assess the knowledge and attitude of HCV infection among dental students and interns in Saudi Arabia population specially Riyadh region. Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional-based survey, using a questionnaire which was divided into two parts, first covering sociodemographic information of the participant regards gender, demographic variable, academic level of the participant and the University. Second part of the questionnaire was established based on the knowledge and attitude of the participant in regard to HCV. Results: A total of 218 students participated in this study. The responses of participants differed in various academic levels with a statistically significant difference in only two questions; in question 10 when they were asked whether or not they knew that a vaccine for HCV exists (p = 0.02) and question 20, if they believed that dental staff would be afraid to treat a patient if they found out his/her positive HCV status (p = 0.02). Conclusions: The present study showed that knowledge, among the dental students and interns in the Riyadh region was not adequate in regard to HCV, and their attitude toward HCV patients was inequitable.