Context: Immunodeficiency virus infection is a major health crisis. It can spread to other people by transmission of the body fluid. The knowledge about this viral infection can aid in preventing its transmission and help in delivering successful dental care to these patients.
Aims: To evaluate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related knowledge and attitude of dental students and also to compare knowledge and attitude between a student's gender and different clinical levels (second, third vs. fourth to seventh years).
Settings and design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental students at the college of dentistry in Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, KSA.
Methods and material: A validated survey was sent electronically to dental students from the second year to seventh year. The questionnaire contained 12 knowledge and 13 attitude questions about treating HIV/AIDS patients. Descriptive statistics were presented for the knowledge and attitude of the dental students about HIV/AIDS. Also, the knowledge and attitude were compared using t-test in relation to gender and clinical year.
Results: The response rate was 65%. The mean and standard deviation (SD) for the knowledge score was 8.32 ± 1.60 out of 12. There was no significant difference between gender and a student's clinical level. In the majority of the attitude questions, more than half of the students had favorable attitude toward HIV/AIDS subjects. Females had more favorable attitude as well as students with more clinical years of experience.
Conclusions: Dental students showed acceptable knowledge and positive attitude toward HIV/AIDS patients. Students who were females and with higher clinical years demonstrated better attitude but similar knowledge to males.
Keywords: Attitudes; HIV/AIDS; dental students; immunodeficiency; knowledge.
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