Dental Hygienists’ Use of Motivational Interviewing and Perceptions of Effectiveness in Changing Patient Behaviors

Abstract

Background: Motivational interviewing (MI) emerged in the area of substance abuse and addiction therapy and has been shown to be effective in changing health behaviors. The University of Minnesota (UMN) Dental Hygiene (DH) program devotes considerable time developing students’ competency using MI. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent UMN DH graduates are using MI in clinical practice, their perceptions of MI’s effectiveness with regard to behavior change, and the association between MI use and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs: attitudes, social norms, and behavioral control.Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study sample comprised DH program graduates from years 2010-2019. The study was conducted at the UMN School of Dentistry (SoD) during June-December 2020. Results: Out of 208 surveys, there were 73 responses (35% response rate) and 58 surveys included in data analysis. The majority of participants (95%) reported using MI in clinical practice. The majority of participants (98%) perceive MI to be an effective behavioral approach. In the context of TPB, participants using MI have positive attitudes, support in their clinical environment, and higher self-efficacy with regards to MI compared to those not using MI. The most reported barrier affecting MI use was time constraints. Conclusion: Study participants are using MI in clinical practice and perceive MI to be effective in changing patients’ behaviors. The findings of this study support the TPB theory. However, some participants were unsure if MI has resulted in a positive behavior change for their patients and reported their patients’ lack of motivation being a significant work frustration, which may present as threats to their long-term use of MI in clinical practice.