Prevalence of HIV infection in oral and maxillofacial surgery patients.

To date there have been no systematic reports of the prevalence of HIV infection in dental surgery patients. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of (1) HIV infection and (2) the risk factors for HIV infection in a sample of patients who went an oral and maxillofacial surgery outpatient clinic in an urban hospital setting. Using a cross-sectional study design and anonymous self-administered patient questionnaires, we estimated the prevalence of HIV infection to be 4.8% (95% confidence interval = 2.3% to 9.7%) in our sample of 165 patients. Prevalence estimates for HIV risk factors were: (1) homosexual/bisexual preference (17.3%), (2) history of sexually transmitted disease (20.0%), (3) history of intravenous drug abuse (10.0%), and (4) history of blood transfusion (3.8%). In general, one might anticipate the prevalence of HIV infection in the patient sample to reflect the community prevalence of HIV infection. Consequently, the prevalence estimates of HIV infection in a sample of patients who live in San Francisco may not be applicable to the reader's local community. Given the known risk factors of HIV infection, however, a well-directed, frank patient history may be useful in identifying patients at risk for HIV infection.