Practitioner and practice-level predictors of participation in a study involving Implementation and effectiveness evaluation of alcohol screening and brief intervention techniques in dental practice

Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, and Treatment (SBIRT) protocols for alcohol abuse, proven in medical settings, have not been examined in dental practice. SBIRT adoption is hypothesized to be impacted by practitioner-level (years in practice, involvement in professional associations) and practice-level (staff resources such as number of dentists/hygienists) factors. The present analyses examine predictors of agreement to participate in a study of SBIRT effectiveness in dental settings. Approximately 387 dentists were mailed a recruitment packet soliciting their interest in participating in the study involving SBIRT adoption and effectiveness evaluation. Data are reported from 69 dentists who responded to the invitation or other recruitment efforts and ultimately agreed to participate (12 agreed; 57 refused). Dentists reported an average of 24 years of practice (range 1.5 - 45 years) and an average of 1.9 professional memberships (range 0-4). Practices primarily involved a single location (88%) with an average of 1.8 dentists (range 1 – 5), and 2.4 hygienists (range 0 – 7). An initial logistic regression analysis predicting agreement to participate (0=No; 1=Yes) suggested a complex relationship between participation and practice size, with participation positively related to number of hygienists (OR = 2.42), but negatively with number of dentists (OR = .31). Further analyses indicated that the key predictor of SBIRT study participation was the number of hygienists per dentist (OR = 2.96; 95%CI: 1.12 – 7.87). Practice size was less important than the relative availability of hygienist support, with greater participation among practices with a larger number of hygienists for each dentist.