Effectiveness of motivational interviewing on adult behaviour change: an overview of reviews

Abstract

Background: Motivational Interviewing (MI) is one of the most widely researched and reviewed behaviour change methods and is recommended for widespread implementation in various behaviour change guidelines. We aimed to identify, appraise and synthesise evidence for the effectiveness of MI on adult health behaviour change. Methods: An overview of structured reviews and meta-analyses. We systematically searched CDSR, DARE, PROSPERO, MEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED and PsycINFO from 2000 to November 2014. Inclusion criteria were: review of MI RCTs, used pre-planned review methods, addressed a health problem or risk behaviour. Comparisons from meta-analyses were extracted and the GRADE criteria used to rate quality of the evidence. Findings: Searches identified 4231 records, 66 reviews met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis data was available for 96 comparisons from 23 reviews. Moderate quality evidence for short-term (<6 months) statistically significant benefits were found in 12 of 96 comparisons for reducing alcohol consumption, substance abuse, and increasing physical activity. Moderate quality evidence for longer-term benefits (12 months) were only found for smoking cessation. For changing other health behaviours the quality of the evidence for MI was low. No data provided high quality evidence for the effectiveness of MI. Conclusions: There is moderate quality evidence of small beneficial effects of MI for changing dependency related health behaviours and promotion of physical activity participation. However, despite a large volume of reviews and meta-analyses, there is no high quality evidence to support the use MI for changing single or multiple health behaviour in any other health or social care setting.