Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Exploring perceptions of oral health can influence the design of interventions to prevent common oral diseases and contribute to quality dental care of patients. There is lack of qualitative studies that explored patients' perceptions regarding possible causes and effect of oral diseases in Rwanda. AIM: The study aimed to explore perceptions on causes and effect of oral disease among HIV-positive and HIV-negative adults at Kigali, Rwanda. METHOD: A qualitative study design using in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted among 21 patients with caries and or periodontal diseases including 10 HIV-positive and 11 HIV-negative adults from the HIV clinic of Kigali Teaching Hospital (CHUK). The interview was conducted in Kinyarwanda using an interview guide. The audio recording was done for subsequent data analyses. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data using an inductive approach. NVivo software version 11 was used to code and organize the data. RESULTS: Two broad domains and six themes emerged from the results. The first broad domain was "perceptions on causes of oral diseases" with two themes (individuals and external factors). The second broad domain was "perceptions on oral diseases effect" with 3 themes (physical or functional effect, psychological effect and social effect). Interviewees perceived individuals' factors (diet, lack of oral hygiene, older age, delayed dental visit, negligence, lack of knowledge, poverty, heredity) as possible causes for their oral diseases. In addition, HIV-positive participants perceived antiretroviral treatment and HIV infection among the possible causes for their caries and periodontal disease. The reported perceptions on oral diseases effect were physical or functional effects (affected appearance, eating difficulty, pain, difficulty smiling or laughing); psychological effects (heartbreak, being annoyed, feeling inferior, anxiety, being unhappy, being worried, hopelessness) and social effects (avoidance or self-isolation, shame or embarrassment and exposure to mockeries). The summary patterns on perceptions of oral diseases showed more frequency of HIV-positive interviewees reporting physical or functional effect and psychological effects compared to HIV-negative counterparts. CONCLUSION: Interventions are needed to prevent caries and periodontal diseases and their effects by tackling various individual, external factors thereby limiting physical, psychological and social effect associated with oral diseases. More attention should be given to high-risk group of HIV-positive people.