Evaluating Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Dentists on HIV/AIDS in West Java, Indonesia, in the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

Purpose. HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health problem in Indonesia. It has been concerned that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a serious impact on people living with HIV (PLWH). Therefore, dentists remain to have a significant role to play in the overall healthcare delivery to PLWH and reducing new HIV infections. The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of dentists in West Java about HIV/AIDS in the COVID-19 era. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing online questionnaires using a Google form to dentists in West Java. We used the purposive sampling technique to recruit the participants. The questionnaire consists of characteristics of respondents, 13 questions about knowledge, 9 questions about attitudes, and 6 questions about behaviors, which has previously been tested for validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation test and the Chi-square test. Results. The Questionnaire was sent to 435 dentists in the West Java region, Indonesia, with the assistance of the Indonesian Dental Association West Java region, to participate in this study. We received completed questionnaires from 209 (48%) respondents. The results of this study showed that 44% of dentists have good knowledge, 53% have a positive attitude, and 53% have positive behavior. No significant relationship was found between knowledge and attitudes ( p = 0.202 ) and behavior ( p = 0.087 ), but there was a significant relationship between attitudes and behavior ( p = 0.0001 ). Conclusion. About half of the dentists in West Java have good knowledge, positive attitudes, and behavior towards HIV/AIDS, but the others lack knowledge, negative attitudes, and behavior. Continuing HIV/AIDS education and training programs for dentists are still needed to keep improving their knowledge and awareness to support disease prevention and control in this COVID-19 era.

Investigation of the understanding on tropical infectious diseases and oral health among dental professionals in China

“…With regard to the tropical infectious diseases and oral health, there were three types of surveys exploring knowledge mastery of medical and dental providers. Firstly, most research reported the knowledge and attitude of medical or dental professionals towards infectious diseases, such as AIDS [ 23 , 24 ], hepatitis [ 25 , 26 ], COVID [ 27 , 28 ], leprosy [ 29 , 30 ] and some other tropical diseases [ 31 , 32 ]. However, few of them concentrated on their oral manifestations.…”

A Scoping Review of Knowledge, Awareness, Perceptions, Attitudes, and Risky Behaviors of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Southeast Asia

“…Interestingly, the authors found that despite having a high HIV/AIDS knowledge, there is an overall negative attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) (i.e., 60.28%), thus showing that a high proportion of people with knowledge does not translate to more positive attitudes. Contrarily, another Indonesian study among 209 dentists found that only about 44% had good knowledge of HIV/AIDS, though slightly more than half the sample (53%) had a positive attitude towards PLWHA [ 32 ]. The authors agreed that the attitude score is deemed low (negative) considering that the cohort under-study is HCW, and thus they should be less discriminatory in treating PLWHA.…”

“…Finally, results based on participants’ occupation status revealed healthcare professionals, including medical students, to have a higher level of knowledge, awareness, attitude, and perception—a pattern that is absolutely expected considering their background [ 11 , 14 , 17 , 32 ]. Contrarily, the knowledge level was found to be extremely low among professions such as industrial workers (migrants) [ 42 ] and sex workers [ 29 , 50 ].…”

The Relationship Between Knowledge and Attitude to Prevent HIV/AIDS Transmission in Dental Students at Dental Hospital (RSGM) Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta

“…In another study in West Java, it was revealed that the attitudes, knowledge and behavior of dentists concerning HIV/AIDS still require to be escalated and balanced. HIV/AIDS education and training programs for dentists are still demanded to increase knowledge and awareness, eliminate stigma and discrimination associated with HIV, and support disease prevention and control in the COVID-19 era [14].…”