ஐ.எஸ்.எஸ்.என்: 1745-7580
Marie Elvire Nokam Abena*, Esther Voundi Voundi, Jacqueline Michèle Lowe, Charles Clovis Nkeh, Rose Mbede, Yannick Nibeye, François Xavier Mbopi-Keou
Introduction: Information on HIV, HBV and HCV related attitudes among dental students aimed at developing an appropriate dental curriculum on these viruses.
General objective: To evaluate the competences on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C infections of clinical dental students of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMBS) of the University of Yaoundé I.
Materials and methods: We ran a cross-sectional study from November 2015 through April 2016 at the FMBS. Clinical dental students from the 4th to the 7th year of study who accepted to participate were included. The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS vs. 17.0. Correlations between variables were expressed by Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The threshold of statistical significance was less than 0.05.
Results: 130 students accepted to participate in this study; 58 (44.6 %) were male and 72 (55.4 %) female and the average age was 24 ± 2 years. Analysis found that 56 (43.1%) students had good to average knowledge on these infections, 73.1% (95) had good to average attitude and 30 (23.1%) had good to average level of practice. Positive correlations between students’ personal knowledge, attitude and practice were found (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The knowledge of clinical dental students regarding HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C is insufficient, which confer on them erroneous attitudes as well as inappropriate control and preventive measures towards HIV/ AIDS, Hepatitis B and C during their clinical practice.