Determinants of Intention of Dentists for Providing Dental Care to HIV/AIDS-infected patients based on Protection Motivation Theory

Reluctance of dentists to treat HIV/AIDS patients represents a major concern. The present study was aimed to determine predictive factors of intention of dentists for providing dental care to HIV/AIDS-infected patients based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) constructs. In this descriptive-analytical study، 80 dentists in the city of Shahriar، near Tehran، were selected through census. A scale based on PMT constructs was developed and validated through qualitative content analysis by a panel of experts and its reliability by Alpha Cronbach. Data was analyzed using SPSS16 and tests such as Pearson correlation، one-way ANOVA، independent-samples t tests and multiple linear regression using the stepwise method. The mean age of participants was 38. 21 (±7. 57) years old; 31 (38. 8%) of the participants were women. Participants had an average of 117. 98 (± 71. 83) months of working experience. Among PMT constructs، self-efficacy could predict 54% variance of intention among the subjects (R2= 0. 54، F= 24. 28، p< 0. 001) For increasing the intention of dentists willing to provide dental care to HIV/AIDS-infected patients should be focused on developing interventions aimed at to increase their self-efficacy.