Abstract

DAVILA, María E  and  GIL, Maritza. Level of knowledge and attitude of dentists towards hiv/aids people. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2007, vol.45, n.2, pp.234-239. ISSN 0001-6365.

ABSTRACT: The knowledge of the dentists during their dental practice and their attitude towards HIV/SIDA people play and important role for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. For this reason an investigation was conducted with to determine the level of knowledge (LK) and attitude towards HIV/AIDS that have dentists who work at public health services in the Iribarren County. Materials and methods: Forty eight dentists who work in the public services participated in the study, and answered a self-administered questionnaire with 50 questions. Most of the dentists (77.1%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 41,29±9.42. Results: When totalizing LK and attitude, 60.4% had a “good” LK and 43.8% reported a negative attitude. There was no statistically difference between LK and attitude (p>0.05).  Analysing LK by item, 64.3% reported as “false” that the risk of dying for Hepatitis B (VHB) is higher than HIV, 85.8% answered that people with AIDS have to be isolated, and 60.4% reported incorrectly  the sterilization measure to be used at dental office.  There was a negative attitude (45.8%) related to provide dental care to HIV/AIDS people. As far as more years of graduation their attitude is unfavourable and their level of knowledge is “Good”. Conclusions: The results suggest the implementation of educational strategies directed to dentists in order to improve dental treatment for HIV/AIDS people.

Keywords : HIV; Level of knowledge; Attitude; Dentists.