title: Awareness of HIV/AIDS and its oral manifestations among people living with HIV in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of the oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS and general issues about HIV and AIDS among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from 187 participants chosen by convenience sampling from NGOs supporting PLHIV. A total of 13.4% of the participants were completely unaware of the oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS whereas all participants were fully aware of general symptoms of AIDS. There were no significant associations between awareness of oral manifestations and general awareness of HIV/AIDS, or level of education. Participants were relatively well aware of the different types of oral manifestations (e.g. oral ulcers 87%, oral candidiasis 84%) while their knowledge of the management of specific oral manifestations and the problems associated with oral manifestations was more limited. It is recommended that health authorities in Tanzania establish population-oriented health education for improving knowledge about oral disease in HIV/AIDS and that oral health professionals provide sound information to PLHIV in community-outreach oral healthcare programmes.
authors: Febronia
authors: F
authors: Kahabuka
authors: Flora
authors: F
authors: Fabian
authors: Poul Erick
authors: PE
authors: Petersen
authors: Hubert
authors: H
authors: Nguvumali
keywords: AFRICA; HEALTH KNOWLEDGE; ORAL CANDIDIASIS; ORAL HAIRY LEUKOPLAKIA; ORAL HYGIENE; ORAL ULCERS; SELF EVALUATION; SYMPTOMS