Awareness about HIV and hepatitis B infections among dental students: A comparative cross-sectional study

With increasing number of patients with HIV and hepatitis -B receiving oral dental care, dental practitioners should have sufficient knowledge of the diseases and their symptoms and manifestations. The knowledge acquired by the students during their academic years provide a crucial foundation during their professional life. The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted on 464 dental students of different academic years of BJS Dental college Ludhiana starting from first year undergraduate to first year post graduate students using a self administered questionnaire. Except for post graduate boys, total mean knowledge scores of students towards both HIV and hepatitis -B infections was good (>50%). It increased with their dentistry years and was significantly more for HIV than for Hepatitis (p =0.012). No significant difference in knowledge was observed with respect to genders. Comparatively less knowledge of our students than others in literature and less awareness of postgraduate students highlight need of infection control education before they start their academic life and updating their knowledge every year.