Results (
Thai) 1:
[Copy]Copied!
ABSTRACTThere is a great demand and need for oral health care during the course of HIVdisease (HIV Costs and Services Utilization Study; Marcus et. al., 2005). HIV+ patientsidentified three key barriers to obtaining oral health treatment: 1) beliefs and attitudes ofdental health care providers (DHCPs) may have lead to their unwillingness to treatHIV/AIDS patients; 2) the existence of racial and ethnic disparities in health care in theUnited States, and 3) how DHCPs perceive their risk of contracting HIV. The fear andstigma associated with treating patients with HIV further compromises their access tocare and their health status. Oral health conditions associated with HIV disease arefrequently more severe than those of the general population, making access to both dentaland medical care imperative. Plus, Florida has some of the highest numbers ofHIV/AIDS patients in the nation.This study was descriptive, cross-sectional and used quantitative methods toexplore the dental hygienists’ behavioral and normative beliefs, attitudes, and intentionstoward treating patients with HIV/AIDS. A three-phase pilot study was conducted toassess the validity and reliability of the survey instrument. An email delivery methodwas used to implement the survey, and a 22% response rate was achieved (n=219). Theixmajority of respondents were female (96%), white (89%), married (77%), currentlyworking (86%), and had treated HIV/AIDS patients in private practice (80%). Bivariateanalysis showed that dental hygienists’ intentions toward treating HIV/AIDS patientswere significantly associated with five independent variables, and binary logisticregression confirmed the significance of two of these associations. Overall, studyparticipants indicated that they were willing to, and had positive attitudes toward,clinically treating HIV/AIDS patients; they were confident in their ability to treat them,and their normative beliefs did not hinder their intention to do so, and they did not worryabout acquiring HIV in the workplace.Three recommendations were made: increase access to oral health care forHIV/AIDS patients within community settings by removing barriers to care, incorporatecultural/sensitivity training in all dental/dental hygiene school curriculums, and mandateFlorida HIV/AIDS continuing education requirements every biennium for dentists anddental hygienists
Being translated, please wait..