ATTITUDES, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES OF OTOLARYNGOLOGISTS TREATING PATIENTS INFECTED WITH HIV

The AIDS epidemic has become one of the most important public health p roblems of this century, As the prevalence of HIV infection continues to rise, health care practitioners in all geographic regions can expec t greater clinical exposure to patients infected with HIV, We conducte d an anonymous survey of all practicing otolaryngologists in Ohio and California to investigate regional differences in attitudes, knowledge , and practices regarding the care of patients infected with HIV. We a lso examined the data with respect to year of completion of residency training to identify differences in attitudes or practices among otola ryngologists who trained in the era of AIDS (post-1982 graduates) in c omparison with their predecessors (pre-1982 graduates), In comparison with Ohio otolaryngologists, California otolaryngologists reported mor e frequent clinical encounters with HIV-infected patients and displaye d significantly better knowledge regarding the otolaryngologic aspects of HIV infection, Californians were more likely to support the right of an HIV-infected physician to maintain an unrestricted practice and would be less likely to disclose their HIV status to their patients an d hospital if they were to become infected with HIV. Post-1982 graduat es had more frequent encounters with HIV-infected patients than did pr e-1982 graduates and demonstrated a better fund of knowledge, Although Californians were more likely than Ohioans to routinely double glove in surgery, the overall double gloving rate was low at 21%, California ns were no more likely than Ohioans to routinely use protective eyewea r water-impervious gowns, or indirect instrument-passing techniques in surgery, No differences were observed in prevalence of protective sur gical precautions between pre-1982 and post-1982 graduates,The results of the survey indicate a need for broader acceptance and use of ''uni versal'' surgical precautions among otolaryngologists.