DENTISTS' KNOWLEDGE OF POST-EXPOSURE PROPHYLAXIS AND THE TREATMENT PROTOCOL OF INDIVIDUALS WITH HIV: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY

Background and aims: Oral health care workers confront various situations associated with occupational infection spread in their clinical setup but most of the time, ignore it due to the clinical procedure that is most important to handle than managing these injuries and may or may not follow up the post-exposure protocols or may not consider needle stick injuries as important, also monitor the infectious diseases prior treatment. This cross-sectional survey was planned to understand the level of knowledge dentists have about post-operative exposure care protocols and understanding the necessity to know the history of diseases the patients contain within them. Methodology: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 oral health care workers. A self-administered questionnaire adapted from similar validated instruments from previous studies and pre-tested on OHCWs was used for data collection. Data entry and statistical analysis were performed with the Statistical Package. Results: A total of 150 questionnaires were distributed, out of which only 121 dentists participated in the study. 39 (41%) professionals had experienced needle stick injury during recapping the needle. The study showed that 53.7% had knowledge about PEP guidelines. 56% of responses clearly mentioned that one should be tested for HIV post needle stick injury: while treating all regular patients and 53.7% had an awareness of post-exposure sure prophylaxis guidelines. The study showed that 84.7% of participants did not wear the safety devices to prevent needle stick injuries and were not well equipped in their set up.