Knowledge, Awareness, and Behavior of Medical and Dental Interns toward Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Patients in Three Colleges of Madhya Pradesh, India: A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction India is one of the countries where a large population is affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It destroys the specific immune system cells called CD4 (cluster of differentiation 4) cells leading to an advanced condition called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is one of the life-threatening conditions. It is an infectious disease that can affect caregivers as well. These patients need to be treated with compassion and caution. The doctors need to be aware of the various types of infection, their symptoms, and precautions while treating them. Hence, there is a need to evaluate awareness and behavior among the medical and dental interns while dealing with patients suffering from HIV infection/AIDS patients. Materials and methods The present cross-sectional survey explored knowledge, awareness, and behavior of medical and dental interns toward HIV-infected/AIDS patients at People's University, Bhopal, India. A questionnaire consisting of 25 questions was given to the interns. A total of 350 interns were included in the study; 250 interns were from People's College of Dental Sciences & Research Centre and People's Dental Academy, Bhopal, India, while 100 interns were from People's College of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, India. The collected data were analyzed and subjected to relevant statistics. Results Out of 350 questionnaires received, 250 were answered by dental interns and 100 were answered by medical interns. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of percentage knowledge score for dental interns was 76.57 ± 17.67 and for medical interns, it was 83.05 ± 11.04. Median of percentage knowledge score was 84.80 and 86.00 for dental and medical interns respectively. Mann—Whitney U-test showed no significant difference between dental and medical interns for percentage knowledge scores (p > 0.05). The awareness score between the dental and medical interns showed that dental interns (82.34) showed slightly better awareness to the HIV patients than medical interns (81.00), although it was not statistically significant. When the behavior scores were compared between the dental and medical interns, the medical interns showed a higher score (85.4) compared with the dental interns (76.80), which was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion The cross-sectional survey showed that medical students had better knowledge but dental interns had better awareness, though both were statistically not significant. The medical interns had better behavior score than dental interns, which was statistically significant. How to cite this article Ashok KP, Tripathi A, Ashok S. Knowledge, Awareness, and Behavior of Medical and Dental Interns toward Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Patients in Three Colleges of Madhya Pradesh, India: A Cross-sectional Survey. J Health Sci Res 2017;8(2):66-71.