Document 1938
 DOCN  M94A1938
 TI    Is there discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS when they seek
       dental care?
 DT    9412
 AU    Charbonneau A; Maheux B; Beland F; Faculty of dentistry, Universite de
       Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
 SO    Int Conf AIDS. 1994 Aug 7-12;10(1):417 (abstract no. PD0278). Unique
       Identifier : AIDSLINE ICA10/94370637
 AB    OBJECTIVE: We measured the proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS who
       had revealed their HIV status when seeking dental care, and whose dental
       care was refused or deferred due to this revelation. METHODS: We
       conducted an anonymous survey, consisting of 224 individuals with
       HIV/AIDS from the metropolitan area of Montreal, Canada. The sample was
       drawn from the following sources including an association of people
       living with HIV/AIDS, STD/AIDS medical clinics, university hospitals,
       and hospices for people with AIDS. Homosexuals and intravenous drug
       users represented 80% and 12% of the sample, respectively. About half
       the respondents were asymptomatic. The survey questionnaire was
       pretested for its validity and reliability. It included 78 items and
       took approximately 15 minutes to complete. RESULTS: Over 70% of
       respondents reported having sought dental care while knowing about their
       HIV status. Among these, 71% reported having revealed their HIV status
       to a dentist at least once, and of these, 21% claimed to have been
       refused treatment when seeking dental care. Results also indicated that
       a substantial proportion of the respondents (48%) declared that they did
       not informed their dentist at least once, about their HIV status. The
       main reasons for not revealing one's HIV status were the utilisation of
       universal precautions for all patients (74%), fear of being refused
       dental treatment (58%), concerns about being judged negatively (35%),
       and lack of trust in the confidentiality of dental records (32%).
       CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there are still many dentists who
       discriminate against people with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore the high
       proportion of respondents who choose not to reveal their HIV status to
       the dentist emphasises the need for a systematic use of universal
       precautions in dental practice.
 DE    *Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome  Confidentiality  Dental Records
       *Ethics, Dental  Human  *HIV Infections  *HIV Seropositivity  *Prejudice
       Quebec  Questionnaires  Urban Population  MEETING ABSTRACT

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
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