Clinical Trial: Testing a Tooth Decay Prevention Program With Cree Mothers and Infants

Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: A Clinical Trial of the Effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing as a Preventive Strategy for Dental Caries in Cree Infants

Brief Summary: Dental decay is an alarming problem in Cree children. The intervention is a behavioural counseling approach called Motivational Interviewing (MI). The dental health of young children in communities whose mothers had a series of MI sessions provided by Cree women will be compared to the dental health of mothers who did not have the intervention.

Detailed Summary:

Dental decay is an alarming problem in Cree children. The intervention is a behavioural counseling approach called Motivational Interviewing (MI). The dental health of young children in communities whose mothers had a series of MI sessions provided by Cree women will be compared to the dental health of mothers who did not have the intervention.

The proposed randomized controlled trial, involving Cree mothers and children in Eeyou Istchee, will test the effectiveness of an innovative, one-on-one counseling program called Motivational Interviewing (MI). In keeping with Cree philosophy and traditions, MI allows mothers to choose from a "menu" of preventive dental behaviours. The primary research question is whether there will be any difference in the dental health status of Cree children from communities where mothers have participated in MI interventions, compared to children from communities where mothers received information by more traditional means (pamphlets). This question will be answered by testing the hypothesis that the prevalence of caries among children 30 months of age will be lower in experimental "MI" communities than in control communities. The secondary questions are whether Cree mothers' beliefs about child dental health, children's dental health practices, and the negative health outcomes of ECC will be altered in MI communities compared to control communities.

Trial design: Over the past two years, the project team has undertaken extensive community consultation to better understand the problem of dental caries in young Cree children, and to seek community input for the project. The design is single blind, with cluster randomization by community, and two treatment groups. A total study sample of 309 mother-child pairs accounts for attrition of 15% over 3 years, and for infant mortality
Sponsor: University of British Columbia

Current Primary Outcome: Dental health status of children 30 months of age in test and control communities [ Time Frame: 24 months ]

Original Primary Outcome: Dental health status of children 30 months of age in test and control communities

Current Secondary Outcome: Mothers' beliefs about child dental health, children's dental health practices, and the negative health outcomes of dental caries assessed at project's end. [ Time Frame: 24 months ]

Original Secondary Outcome: Mothers' beliefs about child dental health, children's dental health practices, and the negative health outcomes of dental caries assessed at project's end.

Information By: University of British Columbia

Dates:
Date Received: September 9, 2005
Date Started: April 2005
Date Completion:
Last Updated: February 9, 2011
Last Verified: February 2011