Comparing predictors of willingness to treat HIV+ patients for New York City male and female general practice dentists 50 years of age or younger.

OBJECTIVES

This article develops and compares gender-specific predictive models for willingness to treat HIV-infected patients (PHIV+) for male and female private general practice dentists (GPDs).

METHODS

Based on mail survey data collected in Manhattan and Queens, New York City (73.3% response rate), hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted for male and female dentists 50 years of age or younger (n = 763) and for those in solo practice.

RESULTS

The gender-specific predictive models (R2s = 0.72) do not differ, except for the influence of practice viability, a moderately strong, statistically significant predictor for men, while the least powerful, statistically nonsignificant predictor for women. This distinction remains for solo male and female practitioners. Informal/formal collegial norms are more influential predictors within the solo female model than within the solo male model.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are encouraging for further work in developing predictive models for clinician subpopulations, with an eye toward developing intervention strategies that reflect key predictive factors for each group.