Surveying Oral Health Needs of People Living with HIV/AIDS

Background

As AIDS deaths decrease, the number of HIV positive patients seeking dental care will increase. This is due to the many connections between living one's systemic life as an immune-compromised patient and the need for maintaining good oral health. Unfortunately, only about 40% of people living with HIV in the US receive adequate oral health care. HIV/AIDS patients may not seek out dental care due to many socioeconomic and psychosocial factors. The purpose of this study is to better understand the self-reported oral health status and habits, self-reported oral health quality of life, and the self-reported barriers and motivators related to accessing oral health care for individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Methods

Clients with HIV/AIDS attending six care coordination sites in Indianapolis, Indiana completed a self-administered oral health survey. The survey covered oral health habits, oral health status, oral health quality of life, general health, satisfaction with dental care, and barriers and motivators in accessing oral health care. General descriptive statistics (e.g., frequencies, means) were used to describe the general oral health status of survey participants and determine barriers to accessing care. Crosstabs, t-tests and Anovas were used where appropriate to make comparisons across gender and ethnic groups.

Results

Analyses of survey responses indicated that HIV/AIDS clients attending care coordination clinics in Indianapolis report numerous oral health issues and face many barriers to obtaining adequate dental health services.

Conclusions

Individuals with HIV/AIDS have significant oral health concerns and receiving quality oral health services can often be problematic for this population.