OCCUPATIONAL BLOOD EXPOSURE AND HIV-INFECTION AMONG ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGEONS

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine occupational blood exposure and the seroprevalence of HIV infection among oral and maxil lofacial surgeons. Study Design. Three hundred twenty-one oral and max illofacial surgeons attending an annual meeting voluntarily and anonym ously participated in an HIV serosurvey and completed a questionnaire assessing practice anal demographic factors. Statistical tests include d the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and the chi-squared test. Results. Eighty percent of those who completed the survey reported one or more blood- skin contacts within the previous month. The mean number of percutaneo us injuries within the previous year was 2.36 +/- 0.2, Wire was most c ommonly associated with percutaneous injuries. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons who reported three or more percutaneous injuries performed mo re fracture reductions than oral and maxillofacial surgeons reporting no percutaneous injuries (p < 0.01), No participant was HIV-positive; the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval was 1.15%. Conclusion. The findings suggest that the occupational risk for HIV infection in o ral surgery is very low even though most oral and maxillofacial surgeo ns experienced blood contact. Associations of percutaneous injuries wi th fracture reductions and wire may assist in the development of new t echniques and equipment to minimize blood exposures.