THE IMPACT OF AN AIDS SYMPOSIUM ON ATTITUDES OF PROVIDERS OF PEDIATRIC HEALTH-CARE

Following reports of concern among health-care workers regarding the occupational risk of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a symposium was designed in 1987 to demonstrate to health-care providers at three hospitals in The Bronx, New York, the low risk of occupational HIV infection and techniques for avoiding infection. After the symposium, 103 of the health-care providers who had attended it completed a questionnaire assessing the impact of the symposium on their attitudes; the responses from 100 of these providers were used in this study. Twenty-nine of the responding providers reported that the symposium had increased their concerns regarding their risk of HIV infection; this group was composed of seven of the 15 medical students who responded, 12 of the 36 housestaff, seven of the 28 faculty, and three of the 21 other medical staff. The findings of the present study suggest that a symposium designed to decrease concerns of occupational HIV infection among health-care workers may have the opposite effect on some of those who attend it, especially medical students. Education alone may be inadequate to reassure some providers. The authors recommend small-group sessions addressing the emotional aspects of health-care providers’ concerns. © 1990 Association of American Medical Colleges.