Motivational Interviewing and Skills-Based Counseling for Sustained Reduction in Saturated Fat Intake

Abstract

Guidelines for health recommend restricting the consumption of saturated fat. Motivating clients to sustain this type of lifestyle is challenging. This 24-week study was designed to assess the impact of motivational interviewing (MI) and skills-based counseling (SBC) on the lifestyles of cardiac patients. Saturated fat intake (% of total calories) was determined from 3-day food records. Two 60-minute MI sessions (weeks 1 & 13) and three 30-min SBC sessions (weeks 2, 3 & 7) added to a traditional (TR) 12-week rehabilitation program comprised the experimental treatment (ET); TR=control treatment (CT). Sixty patients with coronary artery disease were assigned at random to ET (n=28) or CT (n=32). ANCOVA was performed at both 12 and 24 weeks. At 12 weeks ET resulted in a significantly (p=0.047) greater reduction in saturated fat consumption than the CT. At 24 weeks ET patients had reduced their intake of saturated fat from 5.8% at baseline to 4.9%. The CT patients had changed from 7.1% to 7.2%. Hie difference between groups remained significant (p=0.014) from baseline to 24 weeks, ft was concluded that adding MI and SBC to a traditional early outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program significantly improves saturated fat consumption for at least 6 months.