HIV and AIDS Related Knowledge and Awareness among Dental Students in Mangalore, India: A Cross Sectional Survey

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and assess the knowledge of undergraduate students towards treating HIV/AIDS patients in a dental college and the secondary objective was to evaluate the willingness of the students to provide dental treatment to the patients suffering from HIV/AIDS. A cross sectional prospective study was conducted on 300 undergraduate students based on a study questionnaire which consisted of 3 parts to assess their knowledge and willingness to treat HIV/AIDS patients. Part 1 consisted of questions on general knowledge and awareness about HIV and AIDS. Part 2 had questions about the oral manifestations seen/ present in AIDS and the third part assessed the student’s attitude and awareness to treat patients with AIDS. The responses were recorded, and the collected data was subjected to statistical analysis. No statistically significant difference in knowledge was found between the students belonging to the different academic years. In our study the students didn’t show any inhibition to treat HIV/AIDS patients. According to the results of our study incorporation of HIV/AIDS related teaching material in to the undergraduate curriculum is very important as the clinical exposure begins from the third year onwards considering that the undergraduate students will be responsible for clinical decision making of such medically compromised patients it is imperative that they do so on the basis of sound technical knowledge.