Dental Hygienists\u27 Beliefs, Norms, Attitudes, and Intentions Toward Treating HIV/AIDS Patients

There is a great demand and need for oral health care during the course of HIV disease (HIV Costs and Services Utilization Study; Marcus et. al., 2005). HIV+ patients identified three key barriers to obtaining oral health treatment: 1) beliefs and attitudes of dental health care providers (DHCPs) may have lead to their unwillingness to treat HIV/AIDS patients; 2) the existence of racial and ethnic disparities in health care in the United States, and 3) how DHCPs perceive their risk of contracting HIV. The fear and stigma associated with treating patients with HIV further compromises their access to care and their health status. Oral health conditions associated with HIV disease are frequently more severe than those of the general population, making access to both dental and medical care imperative. Plus, Florida has some of the highest numbers of HIV/AIDS patients in the nation. This study was descriptive, cross-sectional and used quantitative methods to explore the dental hygienists\u27 behavioral and normative beliefs, attitudes, and intentions toward treating patients with HIV/AIDS. A three-phase pilot study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the survey instrument. An email delivery method was used to implement the survey, and a 22% response rate was achieved (n=219). The majority of respondents were female (96%), white (89%), married (77%), currently working (86%), and had treated HIV/AIDS patients in private practice (80%). Bivariate analysis showed that dental hygienists\u27 intentions toward treating HIV/AIDS patients were significantly associated with five independent variables, and binary logistic regression confirmed the significance of two of these associations. Overall, study participants 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 worry about acquiring HIV in the workplace. Three recommendations were made: increase access to oral health care for HIV/AIDS patients within community settings by removing barriers to care, incorporate cultural/sensitivity training in all dental/dental hygiene school curriculums, and mandate Florida HIV/AIDS continuing education requirements every biennium for dentists and dental hygienists