DENTISTS AND AIDS - A SURVEY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIOR INITALY

Objectives: Italy, together with Spain, is second only to France in th e total number of AIDS cases in Europe, with over 16,800 as of March 1 993. The purpose of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, a nd behavior concerning AIDS and infeCtion control among Italian dentis ts. Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to 1,000 dentists randomly sel ected from the Italian Dental and Maxillo-Facial Association's registe r of dentists. Results: Of the 715 dentists responding, 70.7 percent o f dentists knew all the main risk groups able to transmit the infectio n and that semen is a biologic fluid potentially contaminated by HIV v irus. This knowledge was greater if the number of patients per week wa s not higher than 55 and if the dentist had had a previous contact wit h an HIV-seropositive patient. Only a few (21.1%) knew all the oral ma nifestations of AIDS. Over 65 percent of the dentists indicated that t hey would treat HIV-seropositive patients (71.9%) or those with AIDS ( 66.8%). Dentists were more willing to care for an HIV-seropositive pat ient ff they were involved in specialties with high blood contact, ff they had a previous contact with an HIV patient, as the average number of patients per week increased, and if they did not consider saliva a s a possible route of transmission of HIV. A small percentage of denti sts who had the opportunity to treat patients at risk for AIDS (12.1%) or HIV seropositive (9.4%) refused to treat them. Willingness to trea t was the most significant predictor of actual treatment of an infecte d patient. Only 24.4 percent routinely used all barrier techniques (gl oves, masks, and protective eye-wear). Predictors of routine use of al l barrier techniques were specialties with high blood contact, conside ring saliva a possible route of transmission of HIV infection, average number of patients per week fewer than 40, and number of years of pra ctice. Conclusions: Educational efforts for improving knowledge and fi nding and implementing ways to motivate dentists to the correct and ro utine use of infection control procedures are needed.