The Health Belief Model Improves OHI Effectiveness in Periodontal Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Various psychological behavioral modification models have been proposed to improve the effectivesness of oral hygiene instruction (OHI) and motivation of patients to perform good oral hygiene practice. The Health Belief Model (HBM) has been shown to improve patient’s oral hygiene practice effectively. Objectives: This study investigated, for the first time, the effectiveness of HBM for improving the outcomes of OHI in Chinese adults with periodontal disease.

Methods: Thirty-four Chinese adults, aged 35-65 years old with CPI≥3 in one of the sextants, were recruited for this randomized clinical trial. The patients were randomly assigned into test (20-40 minutes OHI plus HBM intervention approach) and control (20-40 minutes OHI alone) groups, following periodontal examination. The subjects were recalled after 3-month and full-mouth plaque score (FMPS) and full-mouth bleeding score (FMBS) were recorded.

Results: The mean FMPS of both test and control group decreased from 89%±8% to 45%±21% and 87%±13% to 57%±20% (p<0.05), respectively. The mean FMBS reduced from 77%±17% to 32%±10% and from 88%± 18% to 44%± 15% (p<0.05), respectively in test and control group. The 3-month mean FMPS and mean FMBS were significantly lower in the test and than in the control group. The reduction of mean FMPS at 3-month was significantly greater in test group than in the control group (44% Vs 30%, p<0.05).

Conclusions: Within the limitation of this study, the current findings suggest that the HBM may be useful for improvement of the effectiveness of OHI in Chinese adults with periodontal disease. Further long-term study is warranted to determine the effectiveness of the HBM for increasing patient’s self-awareness of periodontal disease. (Supported by the Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong).