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HIV Attitudes and Practices Among Professors in a Brazilian Dental School
Author(s) -
Pagliari Ana V.,
Garbin Cléa A.S.,
Garbin Artênio J.I.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2004.68.12.tb03878.x
Subject(s) - human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , dental education , family medicine , medicine , medical education , psychology
Although there is considerable published research on Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), individual biases persist because of lack of information regarding HIV virus transmission. As a result, both infected patients and health care professionals suffer. The objective of this study was to determine if there is prejudice among university professors at the School of Dentistry at Araçatuba's São Paulo State University (FOA‐UNESP) concerning HIV‐positive patients or HIV‐positive health care professionals. Out of the seventy‐seven professors who responded to the questionnaire, 62.3 percent (forty‐eight) stated that they advise their students not to refuse to treat a patient with HIV. Although 96.2 percent (fifty‐two) of the fifty‐four professors who treat patients have reported that they treat patients who are HIV‐positive, only 65.3 percent of them were aware of infection control precautions, and only 32.7 percent reported that they would treat an HIV‐positive patient like any other patient. There is also prejudice regarding HIV‐positive professionals because only 48.1 percent (thirty‐seven) of the professors responded that they would be willing to be treated by an infected professional. It can be concluded that there is prejudice among some of the FOA‐UNESP university professors regarding individuals who are HIV‐positive.