The Effectiveness of Health Belief Model as an Educational Intervention in Improvement of Oral Hygiene:A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: A lot of health education and promotion theories have been put forward for behaviour counselling of patients in a dental operatory. Among these, the Health Belief Model is one of the oldest theories that stats that a person’s beliefs and attitudes determine the likelihood of a behaviour change. Aims and Objectives: A systematic review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a Health Belief Model based educational intervention in improving the oral hygiene status. Method: An electronic database search was conducted in the months of September 2018 to November 2018 using the keywords of Health Belief Model (HBM), gingivitis, periodontitis and dental caries. Research papers and original articles using a randomized controlled trial design with assessment of oral health status through any standard indices such as DMFT, Plaque Index (PI), Periodontal pocket depth were included in the review. A total of 41 abstracts appeared, after initial screening, duplicates removal, final screening based on the inclusion criteria for the review and full-text availability of articles, a total of five articles were included in the review. Results: All the five trials using the Health Belief Model as an educational intervention reported an improvement in the oral hygiene status of study subjects in the intervention group which was significantly different to those in the control group. Conclusion: The Health Belief Model can be regarded as a useful educational tool to change behaviours and help in the development of behaviours that are conducive for the maintenance of good oral health. Further research is warranted to supplement the evidence that already exists to provide a clearer evidence of the usefulness of Health Belief Model in health education and health promotion.