The effectiveness of motivational interviewing for smoking cessation in dental clinic Thammasat University athletes of Rangsit campus

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a smoking cessation process using motivational interviewing (MI) among dental students in a clinical trial setting. The sample group was made up of 39 athletes who were smokers at Thammasat University. The group of 20 people used the MI process (3 - 5 minutes) to help them quit smoking, while another group of 19 people used the concise smoking cessation process (5A's) of the World Health Organization (5 - 10 minutes). All research volunteers completed the following tasks: collecting general information about smoking behavior, assessing the level of nicotine addiction and carbon monoxide in the breath, initiating the quitting process through oral health examinations, providing dental treatment, and monitoring any changes in physical behavior. After two weeks, a telephonic follow-up was conducted. The percentage of smokers who have quit was 20.0% in the experimental group and 42.1% in the control group, respectively. The smoking behavior decreased to 65.0% in the experimental group and 42.1% in the control group. The MI method can decrease the amount of nicotine smoked per day significantly (p < 0.05), whereas the 5A method has no statistically significant differences in the amount of nicotine reduced per day (p < 0.05). Also, there was no statistically significant difference between the two methods. Conclusion: The developed MI and 5A’s methods to help quit smoking are not different. However, MI is more concise and takes a shorter time, which can be used with the work of a dentist in a general dental clinic.