Dental Hygiene Students’ Perceptions Regarding the Importance of and Confidence with Using Brief Motivational Interviewing during HPV Patient Counseling

Purpose: Human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that has been identified in over two-thirds of all oropharyngeal cancers. Oral health care professionals play a key role in educating the public regarding HPV and the role of vaccinations. The purpose of this study was to examine dental hygiene and dental therapy students’ perceptions of the importance of and their confidence with applying brief motivational interviewing (BMI) during patient counseling regarding the human papilloma virus (HPV). Methods: A convenience sample of dental hygiene and dual degree dental hygiene/dental therapy students (n=32) participated in an enhanced BMI curriculum that included a 90-minute HPV BMI coaching and role-playing session on the use of eight MI strategies and the technique of elicit-provide-elicit. Questionnaires assessing participants’ perceptions were disseminated at three time points; prior to the HPV BMI training (pre-test), immediately after the coaching and role-playing session (post-test 1) and after the participants had applied their HPV BMI skills during two patient interactions that included self-assessment and faculty feedback (post-test 2). Results: All the students in the sample (n=32) completed the three questionnaires. While participants’ perception of the importance of BMI increased for three of the eight strategies (pre-test to post-test 2), it was not statistically significant. Perceptions of confidence in applying of BMI increased for seven of the strategies (pre-test to post-test 1). Statistical significance was achieved for the “Use of the Importance Ruler” strategy (p=0.003) from pretest to posttest 1 and pre-test to post-test 2 (p=0.003). Conclusion: Results indicate that an enhanced HPV BMI coaching curriculum in addition and two HPV BMI sessions with patients is not enough training to retain confidence overtime. Future research should investigate strategies, such as additional coaching and role-playing sessions, for retaining confidence with applying BMI for HPV discussions during patient care.