Factors associated with dental caries, periodontitis and intra-oral lesions in individuals with HIV / AIDS

This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with oral diseases in individuals with HIV/AIDS. A cross sectional study was carried out which included 312 individuals registered in the Specialized Care Services for HIV/AIDS in three municipalities of the State of Bahia: Feira de Santana, Santo Antonio de Jesus and Juazeiro, Brazil. Socioeconomic-demographic characteristics related to life style and to dental caries, periodontitis and intra-oral mucosal lesions were investigated in patients with HIV/AIDS infection. Prevalence Ratio with 95% Confidence Interval and significance level of 5% were employed for the statistical analysis. The majority of the individuals evaluated were male with a mean age (± standard deviation) of 41.5 ± 11.3 years, and a mean time of HIV infection diagnosis (± standard deviation) of 5.2 ± 4.4 years. The presence of dental caries was observed in 78.7% of the sample, periodontitis in 25.4% and 36.2% showed intra-oral lesions. Oral health status showed a statistically significant association with the following variables: gender, age, schooling level, current occupation, family income, past and current smoking, antiretroviral use time, latest viral burden dosage, latest CD4-positive T lymphocyte count, use of complete/partial dental prosthesis, need for dental prosthesis, and use of dental floss. With the exception of those factors directly related to HIV/AIDS i.e., antiretroviral use time, latest viral burden dosage and latest CD4-positive T lymphocyte count, the factors associated with oral diseases in this population were the same as those associated with oral diseases in the non-HIV/AIDS population.