Treating Patients with HIV and Hepatitis B and C Infections: Croatian Dental Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Risk Perceptions

Abstract

Dentists and dental students can be exposed to the human immunodeiciency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) during routine work. The aims of this study were to assess a group of dental students' knowledge about HIV, HBV, and HCV infections; assess their attitudes and risk perceptions about the treatment of patients with HIV, HBV, and HCV; and identify factors associated with their knowledge and willingness to treat these patients. An anonymous survey was administered to 534 predoctoral students at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The response rate was 71.9 percent. Students' knowledge increased with each year of study. Senior students (in their third, fourth, and ifth years) had more professional attitudes and were signiicantly more positive about dentists' professional obligation to treat patients who are HIV-positive than were junior students (in their irst and second years; p=0.0002). Senior students also expressed signiicantly more willingness to treat intravenous drug users and patients with hepatitis (p=0.016 and p=0.033, respectively). Female students were signiicantly more convinced than male students that routine dental treatment carried a signiicant risk of HIV and hepatitis infection (p=0.025). These students' knowledge negatively correlated with the lack of willingness to treat intravenous drug users and patients with hepatitis, and they expressed their willingness to receive further theoretical and practical education on this topic.

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

“…10 Dentists may be concerned and reluctant because of risk for contamination while treating hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV positive patients. 11 These concerns may be originating from the knowledge deficiency about these diseases in some dentists. 11,12 In our country, several studies have evaluated the awareness level and behaviours of the dentists about some contagious diseases, 13 exposure frequency to infection in dentists 14 and use of personal protective equipment.…”

“…11 These concerns may be originating from the knowledge deficiency about these diseases in some dentists. 11,12 In our country, several studies have evaluated the awareness level and behaviours of the dentists about some contagious diseases, 13 exposure frequency to infection in dentists 14 and use of personal protective equipment. 15 However, there is no comprehensive study in the literature which analysed the exposure rate of the Turkish dentists to infection, their knowledge level about standard precaution and practices after exposure to hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, HIV infections, and their attitudes and behaviours in an integrated approach.…”

Knowledge about syphilis and its oral manifestations among dental students: a cross-sectional study from Brazil, 2019

“…Unlike this research, studies that investigated the knowledge of dental students about HIV / AIDS [25][26][27] and occupational of blood-borne pathogens [28,29] showed that knowledge about some aspects was greater among students with higher educational level. Keser et al [25] justi ed this nding by the fact that the older group may have gained more experience over the years and was exposed to larger number of patients compared to the younger group.…”

“…Keser et al [25] justi ed this nding by the fact that the older group may have gained more experience over the years and was exposed to larger number of patients compared to the younger group. Brailo et al [29] reported that this nding can be explained by the fact that in the clinical phase, at the beginning of the clinical practice in each department, students are introduced to this content again.…”

Occupational health hazards in contemporary dentistry – a review

“…they can cause serious health and life-threatening diseases. It is estimated that in the case of an injury with a hepatitis B virus contaminated needle, the probability of infection is 6-30% [27,28]. hepatitis B virus causes asymptomatic acute or chronic infections, which can lead to cirrhosis or primary liver cancer [29].…”