Motivational Interviewing for Primary Health Care Oral Health Teams: Results After 10 Years of Training

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the maintenance of basic Motivational Interviewing (MI) skills acquired by professionals from oral health teams of a Primary Health Care service 10 years after the initial training. METHODS: This study consists of the follow-up of a prospective cohort (Cárie Zero Cohort). The 72 professionals from the initial study were invited, and 40 professionals agreed to participate in this study. The separation between the intervention group (which received MI training) and the control group (which did not receive it) was maintained. Using the importance and confidence ruler, a helpful response questionnaire, and a dialogued interview, it was assessed whether, 10 years after the initial training, the participants still retained the knowledge and skills acquired during the training. The responses obtained immediately after the training for the intervention group and the initial responses of the control group were compared with the responses obtained 10 years later. RESULTS: The intervention group showed improvement in the overall percentage of correct answers (p = 0.003), whereas the control group maintained the same pattern of correct answers over time, with a statistically significant difference between the groups at the final assessment, with a moderate effect size (0.72) for the significant results. Study participants who received MI training over the follow-up period demonstrated an increase in responses consistent with MI in the helpful response questionnaire, indicating that some skills were consolidated in daily practice 10 years after the initial training. CONCLUSIONS: The MI skills acquired by oral health teams following the initial 8-h theoretical-practical training not only were maintained but also increased significantly over the 10-year period, even without periodic reinforcement after the study's 2-year follow-up. MI may be a useful tool for addressing oral health behaviour changes in the context of Primary Health Care in the long term.