Effectiveness of motivational interviewing on oral healthcare in pediatric patients

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of motivational interviewing, compared to using different traditional motivational techniques on early adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, behavior changes, and oral hygiene status about oral healthcare; 156 healthy early adolescents aged between 10–12 years were included in this interventional study. The participants were randomly assigned to four groups. Basic oral hygiene training (BOHT) (n = 39) group, video monitored (VIDEO) (n = 39) group, plaque disclosed method (PDM) (n = 39) group, and motivational interviewing (MI) (n = 39) group. The participants joined all the motivation sessions one-to-one, face-to-face, with the primary researcher. The data collection forms consist of questions measuring the levels of knowledge, attitude and behavior related to oral health. The participants were invited to the reminder sessions in the following 2 weeks and 1 month. The participant’s plaque index was recorded and assessed by a blinded examiner at the reminder sessions. Data forms were re-filled after a 3-month end-point to evaluate participants’ knowledge, attitude, behavior changes, and oral hygiene status. After the follow-up period, while there was a slight increase in knowledge and attitude levels in the PDM and VIDEO groups, there was a higher increase in behavior and attitude levels in the MI group. Compared to the oral hygiene status, the Plaque Index score reduction was greater in the MI group than in the other groups (p < 0.05); Although positive changes were observed in all groups, the most significant improvement was observed in the MI group. It was concluded that MI could have a positive effect on improving the oral hygiene habits of pediatric patients.

Attitude; Behavior change; Motivational interviewing; Oral healthcare

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