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CC BY 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2022; 16(04): 867-874
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1740350
Original Article

Indonesian Dental Students' Attitudes, Knowledge, Preparation, and Willingness to Treat HIV/AIDS Patients

Yuniardini Septorini Wimardhani
1   Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
,
Yuli Fatzia Ossa
2   Oral Medicine Residency Program, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
,
Indriasti Indah Wardhany
1   Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
,
Diah Ayu Maharani
3   Department of Preventive and Public Health Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
,
Cliff Lee
4   Department of Oral Medicine, Immunity and Infection, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
› Author Affiliations Funding This study was supported by the Universitas Indonesia Research Award (grant no. NKB-1604/UN2.RST/HKP.05.00/2020).
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Abstract

Objective To assess the Indonesian dental students' knowledge of HIV/AIDS in terms of transmission and oral manifestation, the attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the preparedness in infection control, and willingness to treat PLWHA, and assess the factors for willingness to treat PLWHA.

Materials and Methods A modified version of a questionnaire used to assess dental students' knowledge, attitude, preparedness, and willingness to treat PLWHA in China was used. The questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted into Indonesian and had been pre-tested for face validity and test and retest reliability. The dental students from 32 dental schools in Indonesia were invited to participate in the study.

Results A total of 1,280 dental students from 23 dental schools participated in the study. This study found that only 63% of students scored higher than 70% for knowledge of HIV/AIDS, and the mean score for knowledge was 15.02 (2.4). Higher than 80% of students had a positive professional attitude toward PWLHA; however, 80% of students worried about possible disease transmission in the dental office by PLWHA and 70% of students overestimated the occupational risk when treating PLWHA. The dental students had good preparedness for infection control with a mean score for preparedness of 3.19 (0.4). The mean score for willingness was 2.5 (0.9). Willingness to treat significantly differed by the type of universities, gender, age, and clinical experience. This study showed that knowledge about HIV/AIDS correlated with the willingness to treat PLWHA among dental students.

Conclusion Dental students who have good knowledge about HIV infection tend to have a good willingness to treat PLWHA. The knowledge would in turn affect their attitude, preparedness, and willingness to provide care for PLWHA with confidence and comfort. This study suggests that the improvement of dental training may play an important role in changing students' perception of willingness to treat PLWHA.

Keywords

HIV - dental care - attitude - willingness to treat - dental education - Indonesia


Publication History

Article published online:
06 January 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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