Hiv/aids: Knowledge and Attitude of Clinical Dental Students in a Nigerian Dental School

Background: Inadequate knowledge of HIV/AIDS among dental students influence their attitude to HIV/AIDS patients causing students to withhold treatment from these patients. Aim: This study assessed the knowledge and attitude of clinical dental students to HIV/AIDS in a new dental school in order to guide the development of the school curriculum and promote positive attitudes towards managing HIV positive patients. Subjects and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2013 in Enugu Nigeria, among purposively selected clinical students of a Nigeria dental school. The total number of students at the time of the study was 49, and all participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses to questions. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. Results: 98% of the respondents had adequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS. 61.2% had adequate teaching on precautionary measures, virology and blood borne risk factors. 63.3% stated that teaching on sterilization procedures were adequate. 71.4% felt HIV is spread when cut skin is in contact with saliva of HIV patient. About 30% were ignorant on lesions associated with HIV and 24.5% would refer patients to a support group for treatment. Conclusion: There was adequate general knowledge of HIV/AIDS and attitude of clinical dental students was generally acceptable. However inadequacies exist in their knowledge on specific lesions associated with HIV as well as their understanding of transmission routes, which were not consistent with that obtainable in literature. This necessitates the improvement of the school curriculum in order to improve training of dentists.