Differences in the perceptions of HIV risk amongst dental care providers in Western Australian clinics.

This paper examines the perceived risk of occupationally contracting HIV among dental care providers. This examination is based upon responses to a mailed questionnaire from all registered dentists (76 per cent response rate, n = 550) and dental therapists (63 per cent response rate, n = 208) in Western Australia during 1992. Results indicate that: 1) dental care providers who perceive a high risk of occupationally contracting HIV report a more conservative, cautious approach to HIV infection than do providers who perceive less risk of contracting the virus; 2) dental therapists are more likely than dentists to report a higher degree of perceived risk of occupationally contracting HIV; and 3) dentists are more likely than dental therapists to perceive compliance with universal precaution guidelines in dental practices in which they work. Reasons are presented for a suspicion that both sets of perceptions may be exaggerated. The need to educate dental therapists on the realistic risks of occupationally contracting HIV and to educate dentists on the value of compliance (and of appearing to comply) with universal precaution guidelines in order to help reduce undue stress and hindrances in the provision of safe and effective dental care in this era of AIDS concludes this paper.

Population crowding and death rates due to heart disease.

Based upon the methodology of earlier research on death rates due to malignant neoplasms reported in this journal, this paper examines the relations between select social morphological factors of population size and density and rates of deaths due to heart disease. This study supports the findings of that earlier paper: populations having a stable morphological structure have a negative relation with death rates; populations experiencing a change in morphology, particularly an increase in the number of persons per housing unit, have a positive relation with mortality rates. An human ecological perspective is introduced to conceptualize the researches.

Specifying morphological factors affecting rates of death due to malignant neoplasms.

This paper reports research which examines the relations between select social morphological factors of population size and density and rates of death due to malignant neoplasms among males and females within countries in the north-east and west regions of the U.S.A. between 1960 and 1970. Generally it was found that populations having a stable morphological structure have a negative relation with rates of death due to malignant neoplasms; populations experiencing a change in population morphology, particularly an increase in the number of persons per housing unit, have a positive relation with rates of death due to malignant neoplasms. The importance of tapping different dimensions of the spatial environment is illustrated as future research on the social epidemiology of malignant neoplasms is suggested.