Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Dentists Towards Patients With HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Infections

Abstract

Background: Dental practitioners can be exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) during routine work. Objectives: In this study, the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the dentists in Zahedan were examined on patients with HIV, HBV, and HCV infections. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 dentists in Zahedan in 2013. A reliable and valid questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and performance of the dentists toward the infectious diseases of HIV, hepatitis B and C was distributed to all dentists who worked in Zahedan. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent sample t-test and Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Results: The mean score of the knowledge, attitude and practice of the dentists were 51.45 ± 3.16 out of 63, 20.22 ± 3.74 out of 39 and 64.41 ± 4.49 out of 72, respectively. Most of the participants (95%) believed that the fear and concern of the transmission of HIV, HBV and HCV infections are among the reasons of refusing the infected patients. The relationship between demographic variables and the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of dentists was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Although the dentists had a proper knowledge in the field of transmission of HIV, HBV, and HCV infections, fear and concern of being infected make them to refuse these patients. Therefore, training dentists to improve their attitudes toward treatment of these patients is necessary.

Post-Exposure Prophylaxis: Knowledge and Practice Among General Dental Practitioners in Hamadan, Iran

“…The results revealed that dentists' knowledge score was less than 50%, which was in concordance with other surveys (5)(6)(7)(10)(11)(12). This may be due to insufficient training, both at universities and in retraining programs post-graduation.…”

“…This may be due to insufficient training, both at universities and in retraining programs post-graduation. Other (6). The current study indicates that 68.8% of respondents had a history of injury, and 29 out of 40 who worked more than six hours per day mentioned at least one injury from sharp instruments; this number was 23 for those working under six hours.…”

“…Unfortunately, despite knowledge of the risk of infection, needle stick injury is inevitable (5). Needle stick injury is defined as penetration of a sharp instrument into the body of a healthcare professional, exposing them to high-risk body fluids of patients (1,2,6). Cutaneous injuries are the most common cause of infection transmission from patient to dentist.…”

Knowledge, attitude, and behaviour of Turkish dentists regarding contamination and prevention of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV infection

“…The study was conducted with the participation of 58 dentists throughout Turkey between July-August 2018 after receiving the required ethical and administrative approvals. A 33-item digital survey created using literature data [16][17][18][19] was applied. The dentists were requested to answer the survey questions individually and voluntarily.…”

Knowledge, perception and practices of Suez Canal University students regarding Hepatitis C Virus infection risk and means of prevention

“…As the knowledge of this group about the prevention and transmission of hepatitis was not high, it is predictable that they do not follow preventive strategies completely. In a study in a teaching hospital in Lahore, it was determined that lack of awareness was the commonest reason for not being vaccinated against hepatitis B [19].…”