A study on AIDS-related knowledge and attitude among dental-hygiene students

치위생과 학생들의 AIDS에 관한 지식 및 태도 조사연구

The purpose of this study was to examine how much knowledge dental-hygiene students had about AIDS and how they looked at that. The subjects in this study were 370 freshmen, sophomores and juniors who were majoring in dental hygiene. The findings of this study were as follows : The rate of the students who were accurately aware of AIDS dissemination ranged from 59 to 92 percent. Those who knew that the disease didn't spread through routine daily contacts stood at 63 to 91 percent, and the students who were correctly cognizant of the cause of AIDS numbered 41 to 77 percent. Those who grasped the seriousness of that disease stood at 45 to 83 percent. The students weren't properly aware of how to prevent AIDS, as just 33 to 68 percent knew about that. Concerning connections between school year and AIDS knowledge, the sophomores had a better knowledge on its dissemination, cause and AIDS itself than the freshmen and juniors. As for attitude toward AIDS, 72.4 percent considered themselves not to be susceptible to that disease, but 361 percent felt that they were likely to develop it. 44.6 percent weren't afraid of being attacked by that disease, but more students feared about that possibility. Most of the students, who ranged from 77 to 88 percent, hoped to continue to be educated about that, and as many as 92 percent believed that AIDS patients should separatedly be treated. A lot of the students, which accounted for 90 percent, felt fear in the course of treatment, but 44 percent believed that AIDS patients should equally be treated, which indicated that they had a sense of responsibility. As to the relationship of school year to altitude toward AIDS, when their ideas about the danger of AIDS were asked, the freshmen and juniors considered themselves not to be susceptible to that disease more than the sophomores did, and the former group felt, more than the latter, that AIDS infection should be more thoroughly prevented than hepatitis in dental clinic. The juniors had a stronger tendency to find themselves to be exposed to AIDS as equally as most other people, compared to the freshmen and sophomores. The sophomores felt higher need for AIDS - related education, and had a stronger sense of duty about treating AIDS patients, and were more apprehensive of the disease in the course of treatment than the freshmen and juniors did. The above-mentioned findings suggested thai every individual should be cautious not to develop AIDS, as there is still no workable vaccine. Since the nation is not free from the horrible disease, the government should put more efforts into researching and preventing it. But what's most important is that dental-hygiene students, who will be committed to dental treatment in the future, should precisely be cognizant of the seriousness of that disease, and try to stay away from it by using protective devices and handling dental supplies properly. And the type of treatment system thai could prevent AIDS infection should be established.