Prevalence of Sexuality Implicit Bias in Entry-Level Dental Hygiene Students

Abstract

Purpose Bias and discrimination may create barriers and affect the delivery of culturally competent care to sexual minorities. An awareness of biases early in education may promote more equitable oral health care delivery to diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of sexuality-implicit attitudes in entry-level dental hygiene students at one university.

Methods This cross-sectional survey study included a convenience sample of dental hygiene students from one university (n=74). The Implicit Associations Test (IAT), a validated tool for measuring implicit bias, was modified for use in dentistry with permission from Project Implicit^®. The IAT requires participants to rapidly pair two social groups, in this case, homosexual and heterosexual individuals, with either positive or negative attributes (words/concepts), using the “E” and “I” computer keyboard keys. Faster average response times to pairings indicates a preference for a group. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate the means between groups and determine the prevalence of sexuality implicit biases. Independent samples t-test was utilized to examine differences in the level of implicit bias based on the year in the dental hygiene program (p<0.05). One-way between-subjects ANOVA was used to examine differences in age groups (p<0.05).

Results Seventy dental hygiene students (n=70) completed the survey, (n=34 first year, n=36 second year). The average overall implicit score for first-year students was 0.001 (no sexuality preference), and 0.069 for second-year students (no sexuality preference). No statistically significant differences were found when comparing year in dental hygiene program and age groups.

Conclusion Undergraduate dental hygiene students had no sexuality bias for straight or gay individuals.