Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2012 Apr;76(4):479-86.
Dental professionals may be exposed to bloodborne pathogens in their work, and dental students may be a particularly vulnerable group. Fear of exposure has also been linked to discriminatory practices. A cross-sectional survey of dental students was conducted at one U.S. dental school to assess their knowledge about the transmission of bloodborne pathogens and management of exposures; the frequency of their bloodborne pathogen exposures (BBPEs); and associations among their prior exposure, knowledge, perception of knowledge, and attitudes toward practice. Overall, 220 students (72.1 percent) responded to the survey, and 215 (70.5 percent) answered questions about exposures. The prevalence of BBPE was 19.1 percent and was greater among clinical than preclinical students (p<0.01). Percutaneous injuries occurred in 87.5 percent of those exposed. All students (preclinical and clinical combined) answered more survey questions correctly about transmission of bloodborne pathogens (66.7 percent) than about post-exposure management (25.0 percent). Fewer than half reported adequate knowledge of transmission and management (47.5 percent and 37.3 percent, respectively). In this context, 8.2 percent of the respondents acknowledged an unwillingness to perform procedures on patients with HIV. Since knowledge gaps may lead to failure to report incidents and delays in appropriate exposure management and some negative attitudes towards treating individuals with HIV persist, these findings justify improving BBPE education at U.S. dental schools.
牙科专业人员在工作中可能会接触到血液传播病原体，而牙科学生可能是一个特别脆弱的群体。对接触的恐惧也与歧视性做法有关。对美国一所牙科学校的牙科学生进行了横断面调查，以评估他们对血液传播病原体传播和接触管理的知识；他们的血液传播病原体接触频率（BBPE）；以及他们之前的接触、知识、对知识的感知和对实践的态度之间的关联。总体而言，有 220 名学生（72.1％）对调查做出了回应，有 215 名学生（70.5％）回答了关于接触的问题。BBPE 的患病率为 19.1％，临床学生比预科学生更高（p<0.01）。暴露于 BBPE 的人中，87.5％发生了穿透性损伤。所有学生（临床和预科学生合并）对血液传播病原体的传播（66.7％）的调查问题回答正确的比例高于接触后管理（25.0％）。不到一半的人报告对传播和管理有足够的了解（分别为 47.5％和 37.3％）。在这种情况下，8.2％的受访者承认不愿意为 HIV 患者进行治疗。由于知识差距可能导致未能报告事件以及适当的接触管理延迟，并且对治疗 HIV 感染者的一些负面态度仍然存在，因此这些发现证明有必要改善美国牙科学校的 BBPE 教育。
