Methods-Motivational Interviewing Approach for Enhanced Retention and Attendance

Area of Science:

• Clinical Trials Methodology
• Participant Engagement Strategies
• Health Behavior Research

Background:

• Suboptimal participant engagement, including poor retention and attendance, compromises the rigor and validity of randomized trials.
• Differential engagement can skew trial results and limit the generalizability of findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Motivational Interviewing approach and its implementation for enhancing participant engagement in randomized trials.
• To evaluate the impact of prerequisite orientation sessions using Motivational Interviewing on participant retention and attendance in three weight-management trials.

Main Methods:

• The study implemented a Motivational Interviewing approach through interactive, prerequisite orientation sessions before randomization.
• Three randomized weight-management trials (Supporting Health by Integrating Nutrition and Exercise, Get Social, Gestational Weight Gain and Optimal Wellness) added these orientations to their protocols.
• A pre-post analytical design was used, with regression models controlling for condition and assessment timepoint to analyze retention and attendance data.

Main Results:

• All three trials demonstrated improved participant engagement after implementing prerequisite orientations.
• Retention at primary outcome assessments increased by 11.4% and 17.3% in two trials.
• Intervention session attendance improved, with one trial showing an 8.8% increase in mean attendance and a 10.1% decrease in participants attending zero sessions.

Conclusions:

• The Motivational Interviewing approach, integrated into prerequisite orientations, shows promise for enhancing participant engagement in randomized trials.
• This adaptable method can improve trial rigor and is suitable for various delivery formats (in-person, webinar, conference call).