Comparing the motivational interviewing integrity in two prevalent models of brief intervention service delivery for...

This quasi experimental study compared the motivational interviewing (MI) integrity in two prevalent brief intervention (BI) service delivery models for drug abuse. Routine primary care providers (RCPs) and non-routine care providers (NRCPs) performed BIs using an MI style within the same medical setting, patient population, and Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral for Treatment (SBIRT) protocol. Interventionists (9 RCPs and 6 NRCPs) underwent similar MI training and performed a total of 423 audiorecorded BIs. We compared the MI integrity scores for all audio recorded sessions from these two SBIRT models for up to 40 months post MI training. Both groups met the lower standard (beginning proficiency in MI) on 4 of 5 MI integrity scores, but NRCPs met more of the higher standards (competency in MI) than RCPs. There may be limitations with regards to MI fidelity when using RCPs to conduct BIs in some primary care settings. Further experimental investigation is warranted to replicate this finding and identify casual factors of observed differences in MI fidelity.