Prevalence of Sexuality Implicit Bias in Entry-Level Dental Hygiene Students – A Pilot Study

urpose: 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 equitable care and increase the quality of oral healthcare delivered 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 study included a convenience sample of junior and senior dental hygiene students (n=74) and was determined exempt by a university Health Sciences Human Subjects Review Committee (2151633-2). The Implicit Associations Test (IAT) is a validated tool used to measure implicit bias. For this pilot study, the validated Sexuality IAT 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 indicate 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 for statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in the level of implicit bias based on the year in the dental hygiene program (1st or 2nd). One way between subjects ANOVA was used to examine for differences in age groups (p < 0.05). Results: Seventy dental hygiene students (n=70) completed the survey, (n=34 1st year, n=36 2nd 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). When comparing year in dental hygiene program and age groups, no statistically significant differences were found. Conclusion: Undergraduate dental hygiene students had no sexuality bias for heterosexual or homosexual individuals. More research is needed on a larger sample to determine awareness. Additionally, the use of interventions that aim to mitigate biases towards LGBTQ+ individuals.