HIV-related knowledge and attitude among dental patients attending a Nigerian teaching hospital

Abstract

Objective: To examine the HIV-related knowledge and attitude among dental patients attending a Nigerian teaching hospital.

Methods: This questionnaire based cross-sectional study among dental patients University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City was conducted between August, 2016 and October, 2017.

Results: Three-quarters (73.1%) of the participants had poor HIV knowledge. Participants less and equal to 20years, males and never married participants had poorer HIV knowledge. Most of the participants had favourable attitude (66.9%) towards HIV. Most of the participants that were more religious had favourable attitude towards HIV.

Conclusion: This study revealed that majority of the participants had poor HIV-related knowledge and a minority of the participants exhibited negative/intermediate attitude towards People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). There is a need to activate HIV-related education and promotion in the dental clinic setting. Efforts at improving religious attendances may be necessary to help reduce negative/intermediate attitude towards PLWHA

Keywords: attitude, dental patients, HIV/AIDS, knowledge