Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

1. Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study Preliminary report, including results from Athens School of Dentistry. An EDSA project…

2. Epidemiological data December 2003 Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

3. New infections Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

4. The dentist must be capable of recognizing, documenting & treating oral lesions related to the HIV/AIDS. Has the responsibility of referring patients presenting sings & symptoms linked to the HIV infection for further trials. Contemporary curricula must entail theoretical and practical training of dental students in treating HIV-related oral lesions. AIDS & Dentistry Source:FDIStatement; General Assembly 2003 Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

5. Aim & methods • To study of HIV-related knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of dental students. • To explore the effect of gender and study level on the above. Aim • Anonymous questionnaire of 56 closed-end questions (yes/no, 4-point Likert scale) • Distributed to all clinical-year (4th, 5th) students, officially registered in Athens Dental School, in November 2003. • For the data analysis Chi2 and Wilcoxon tests were performed. Materials & methods Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

6. Results Response 269 questionnaires were returned and analyzed Sample description • The sample was consisted of144 (53.5%) female and 122 (45.3%) male students. Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

7. Summary of answers & results of Univariate analysis 1: x2 test (*denotes p<0.05, ** p<10-3) Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

8. Summary of answers & results of Univariate analysis 1: Wilcoxon test (*denotes p<0.05, ** p<10-3) Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

9. Are you familiar with the routesof transmission of the HIV virus? Which of the following laboratory findings are related with HIV-infection? Results Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

10. Do you believe that the practice of Dentistry entails a high risk of an HIV-infection? Do you consider every patient as a potential carrier of HIV/HBV? Do you think that you follow all necessary infection control measures in the clinics? Χ2test: p<10-3 Results Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

11. Do you accept the right of privacy of an HIV+ patient not revealing his situation to you? Do you consider yourself competent at contributing to an early diagnosis of an HIV-infection? χ2 test: p<10-3 Do you believe that if a dentist is diagnosed as HIV+, they should continue normal practice? If yes, do you believe that it’s their patients’ right to know about his seropositivity? χ2: test: p<10-3 Results Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

12. I consider my knowledge of the virology & the immunobiology of the HIV-infection as: I consider my knowledge of the oral manifestations of the HIV-infection and their treatment as: Wilcoxon test: p<10-3 Results Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

13. I consider my knowledge of the infection control measures necessary in the clinics as: I consider that my skills for the detection of patients in high-risk groups for HIV-infection, via the case history process as: Results Wilcoxon test: p<0.05 Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

14. Results Wilcoxon test: p<0.05 Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

15. Discussion • Cross-sectional • Time of conduction • Generalizability of conclusions • Knowledge of the routes of transmission of HIV. • Laboratory findings (RLC>RPC) • 82% of the respondents considered that the practice of dentistry entails high risk of being infected with HIV. • 2/3 of the students answered that they treat all patients as potential carriers of HIV/HBV. • 59% of the 5th year students stated that they have been injured by a sharp and/or bloodyinstrument during their clinical training. Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

16. Discussion • 80% of the Brazilian dental students considered all patients as potential HIV/HBV carriers. 60% were positive when asked whether they would be willing to treat HIV+ patients in their future dental practice. (Oliveira et al. Brazilian dental students’ knowledge and attitudes towards HIV infection. AIDS Care. 2002 Aug;14(4):569-76) • 97% of the British dental students perceived their knowledge of the cross-infection precautions and practices as probably sufficient or excellent. (Gilbert AD, Nuttall NM. Knowledge of the human immunodeficiency virus among final year dental students. J Dent. 1994 Aug;22(4):229-35. ) • The curriculum of the 4th study year seems to influence significantly dental students’ knowledge and attitudes toward the HIV-infection. • Further investigation is suggested among different student groups. Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

17. “Health science students’ HIV-related knowledge, attitudes & perceptions: a comparative study (Dental School of Athens, Dental School of Thessaloniki, Medical School of Ioannina) “Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study.” 32nd European Dental Students’ Association Meeting. Santiago de Compostella, Spain. 23-27 September 2003. www.edsa.globaldent.com Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study

18. Thank you… for your attention! Dental students’ HIV-related knowledge & attitudes: A Multicentre study