Alcohol Screening and Brief Advice in NHS General Dental Practices: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial

Scoping review of fidelity strategies used in behaviour change trials delivered in primary dental care settings

BACKGROUND

Primary dental care settings are strategically important locations where randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of behaviour change interventions (BCIs) can be tested to tackle oral diseases. Findings have so far produced equivocal results. Improving treatment fidelity is posed as a mechanism to improve scientific rigour, consistency and implementation of BCIs. The National Institutes of Health Behaviour Change Consortium (NIH BCC) developed a tool to assess and evaluate treatment fidelity in health behaviour change interventions, which has yet to be applied to the primary dental care BCI literature.

METHOD

We conducted a scoping review of RCTs delivered in primary dental care by dental team members (in real-world settings) between 1980 and 2023. Eligible studies were coded using the NIH BCC checklist to determine the presence of reported fidelity strategies across domains: design, training, delivery, receipt and enactment.

RESULTS

We included 34 eligible articles, reporting 21 RCTs. Fidelity reporting variations were found both between and within NIH BCC domains: strategy reporting ranged from 9.5 to 85.7% in design, 9.5 to 57.1% in training, 0 to 66.7% in delivery, 14.3 to 36.8% in receipt and 13.3 to 33.3% in enactment. The most reported domain was design (M = 0.45), and the least reported domain was delivery (M = 0.21). Only one study reported over 50% of the recommended strategies in every domain.

CONCLUSIONS

This review revealed inconsistencies in fidelity reporting with no evidence that fidelity guidelines or frameworks were being used within primary dental care trials. This has highlighted issues with interpretability, reliability and reproducibility of research findings. Recommendations are proposed to assist primary dental care trialists with embedding fidelity strategies into future research.

The Alcohol Harm Paradox in Periodontitis

Individuals of lower socioeconomic position (SEP) experience a greater rate of alcohol-related harms, yet they consume equal or lower amounts of alcohol than higher-SEP individuals. This phenomenon, called the "alcohol harm paradox" (AHP), gained attention recently, and different mechanisms have been proposed to explain it. Since both SEP and alcohol have been suggested to be associated with periodontitis risk, we conducted a secondary analysis using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011 to 2012 and 2013 to 2014 cycles, aiming to examine 1) whether the association between alcohol consumption and periodontitis is modified by SEP and 2) the extent to which the effect of SEP inequalities on periodontitis is mediated by and/or interacts with alcohol consumption. We set educational attainment as the main SEP proxy and tested the poverty income ratio in subsequent sensitivity analyses. Effect measure modification analysis was employed, considering heavy drinking as exposure, and causal mediation analysis based on the potential outcome's framework decomposed the effect of SEP on periodontitis in proportions attributable to mediation and interaction. Models were fitted using binary logistic regression and adjusted for sex, ethnicity, age, body mass index, smoking status, diabetes, binge drinking, and regular preventive dental visits. The analytical sample comprised 4,057 participants. After adjusting for covariates, less educated heavy drinkers presented 175% (odds ratio, 2.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.04-3.72) higher odds of periodontitis than their counterparts, and super-additive associations were found (relative excess risk due to interaction: 1.35; 95% CI, 0.49-2.20). Additionally, -69.5% (95% CI, -122.1% to -16.8%) of the effects of education on periodontitis were attributable to interaction with heavy drinking, consistent with the AHP. No contribution was found for the mechanism of mediation. Heavy drinking disproportionately impacts the occurrence of periodontitis in lower-SEP individuals. Lower-SEP individuals seem to experience differential effects of heavy drinking on periodontitis.

Peer-led alcohol intervention for college students: A pilot randomized controlled trial

This study aims to assess the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of a brief, peer-led alcohol intervention to reduce alcohol consumption in binge-drinking Spanish nursing students. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 50 first-year nursing students who were randomly assigned either a 50-min peer-led motivational intervention with individual feedback or a control condition. Primary outcomes for testing the preliminary efficacy were alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences. Quantitative and content analyses of open-ended survey questions were performed. Participants in the intervention condition significantly reduced binge-drinking episodes, peak blood alcohol content, and consequences compared to the control group. Principal facilitators were completing the questionnaire during the academic schedule and providing tailored feedback through a graphic report. The main barrier was the unreliability of students' initial commitment. The findings suggest that a brief motivational intervention could be effective for reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences in Spanish college students. Peer counselors and participants reported high satisfaction, indicating that the intervention is feasible. However, a full trial should be conducted taking into account the identified barriers and facilitators.