Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Nationwide poll education hasn't halted AIDS fear
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 13, 1989
Charles Petit, Chronicle Science Writer
Public education efforts have failed to curb public fear of being near people infected by the AIDS virus, particularly infected doctors, a nationwide survey by San Francisco researchers says. Most patients would not let themselves be treated by a doctor infected by the AIDS virus, and of people surveyed, nearly half said such doctors should lose their licenses, according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco. The survey is being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The report indicates that although people objectively believe that chances of infection through casual contact are extremely low, many still do not want to take any chances at all. "The public's desire to avoid people with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) disease seems much stronger than their perception of risk of transmission would 'rationally' predict," the researchers said. Authors of the report are Barbara Gerbert, Bryan T. Maguire, Dr. Stephen B. Hulley and Thomas J. Coates, of the UC San Francisco schools of dentistry and of medicine. While the public is most leery of having doctors who are infected by the virus, people in many other professions would also be shunned, according to the survey. The survey of 1,500 people nationwide found these percentages who think that people in the following professions should not continue working, even if they have no symptoms limiting their abilities: surgeons, 59.2 percent; cooks, 54.8; dental hygienists, 52.9; dentists, 52.3; nurses, 49.5; other physicians, 44.9; schoolteachers, 22.8; police officers, 16.4; bus drivers, 7.6; machinists, 5.8; and lawyers, 4.6 percent. Overall, 55.7 percent said they would leave a doctor who is infected, and 45 percent said such physicians should be stripped of their licenses. The American Medical Association's official policy is to recommend that doctors who are infected should continue to practice as long as there is no risk to their patients. The survey was made so that doctors will know how fear of AIDS can affect both their jobs and those of other people and to encourage doctors to work harder to publicize arguments that in nearly all situations an AIDS-infected person poses no significant risk to others. In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Nancy W. Dickey, a trustee of the American Medical Association, said doctors have the right to withhold from their patients whether they are infected by the virus. Physicians, she wrote, have the right to confidentiality "in matters that are not pertinent to their practice." "The responses of the public and of patients have not always been rational; rather, they have been emotional, occasionally hysterical, and there have been attempts to remain at a distance from the disease and all who may have it," she wrote. Infected doctors are obligated, however, to consult with fellow physicians to be sure their office and treatment procedures pose no risk to their patients, Dickey wrote.
Keywords: US; POLLS; AIDS; DOCTORS
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