Knowledge, attitude, and practices of dental students toward human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome of AMC Dental College and Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: A cross-sectional study

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of the dental students regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and HIV testing in routine dental practice. Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional survey, in which 267 students from 3rd year, 4th year, and interns of B.D.S at AMC Dental College and Hospital participated voluntarily. A close-ended questionnaire with multiple-choice questions was designed for this survey. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis using SPSS version 20 software. Results: In this study, we found that >90% of the participants have overall adequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, there were inadequacies in terms of testing, treatment, and therapy. The participants showed positive attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), but the results also indicate that the dental students are not well equipped to treat HIV/AIDS patients though sympathetic. One of the key findings is that >80% of students are in favor of using rapid HIV testing in clinical setup as screening test. Conclusion: Dental students must be made aware of and should understand the importance of treating HIV/AIDS patients. This can be achieved by proper modeling and making the students more sensitized toward PLWHAs as well as introduction of routine HIV testing kits at dental setups.