Health Topics Emerged From Brief Motivational Interviewing: A randomized clinical trial

Area of Science:

• Periodontology
• Health Communication
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Effective patient education is crucial for managing periodontal disease.
• Traditional oral hygiene instructions (OHI) may have limitations in promoting comprehensive health discussions.
• Motivational interviewing (MI) is a communication style that can enhance patient engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the health topics evoked by brief-motivational interviewing (MI) versus traditional oral hygiene instructions (OHI).
• To analyze transcriptions of audio recordings from patient education sessions.
• To quantify and compare discussions related to oral health and overall well-being.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-eight periodontal maintenance patients were randomized into brief-MI or traditional OHI groups.
• Participants received four educational sessions over a 1-year period.
• Audio recordings were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using mixed-effect models.

Main Results:

• The brief-MI group discussed significantly more topics related to total health than the OHI group.
• Oral home care behaviors, oral diseases/conditions, lifestyle behaviors, nutrition, emotional/mental health, and general health were discussed more frequently in the brief-MI group.
• Specific topic counts showed higher instances for oral home care (15 vs 10.2) and nutrition (2.6 vs 0.8) in the brief-MI group.

Conclusions:

• Brief-motivational interviewing (MI) is a more effective communication strategy than traditional OHI for increasing health-related discussions in periodontitis patients.
• MI promotes broader conversations encompassing oral health, lifestyle, nutrition, and general well-being.
• This approach holds promise for improving comprehensive patient care in periodontal maintenance.