Knowledge and Attitude about HIV/AIDS among the Dental Students in Namakkal District

Ilayaraja Vadivel, Jisha George babu, Ga .

Abstract


Objective: To assess the Knowledge and Attitude about          HIV/AIDS among the Dental Students in Namakkal district.

 Materials and Methods:  A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out among the dental students of Vivekanandha Dental College for Women, Tiruchengode, Namakkal. All          pre-final year, final year and intern students were included in the study. A pretested self-administered questionnaire with 14 questions was designed to assess the knowledge and               attitude. The 200 questionnaires were distributed among the dental students. It comprised of questions in two sections, 8 questions exploring the knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and 6 questions regarding attitude towards treating HIV positive patients respectively.

 Results:  A total of 185 respondents out of 200 returned a completed questionnaire giving an overall response of 92.5%. Regarding the source of information, 69% of the dental          students opted text books. About 12% of the dental students have a misconception that kissing is a mode of transmission for HIV and around 66% of the students are not aware that breast feeding is also a mode of transmission. and 58.4% of the dental students believe that working with HIV positive patients may endanger their health. About 33.5% of the           students wish to have the right to refuse to treat HIV positive patients. 

 Conclusion: Still there are misconception regarding the modes of HIV transmission and better attitude toward treating the HIV positive patients needs to be instilled among dental students.

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