Does the Transtheoretical Model Show Health Behaviour Changes for Patients with Musculoskeletal Disorders?

Background: The use of motivational interviewing (MI) for changing unhealthy behaviour for muskuloskeletal patients forces us to find methods for its effectiveness evaluation. One of the solutions could be the transtheoretical model (TTM). It is a stagebased theory of behaviour changes. Movement through the stages is hypothesized to be caused by the processes of change, decisional balance and temptation. The purpose of this study is to find out how TTM can show health behaviour changes for patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Methods: One to four MI sessions has been successfully applied for 35 patients with musculoskeletal disorders during their rehabilitation treatment period. TTM’s Readiness to Change Questionnaire was used to evaluate behaviour changes at the beginning and at the end of MI treatment. Findings: There were 6 patients at precontemplation, 19 at contemplation and 10 at action stages at the beginning of MI sessions. Results showed that 11 patients stayed at contemplation stage and 9 were already at action stage already changing their behavior, but 3 patients moved from precontemplation to contemplation stage, 3 patients moved from precontemplation to action stage and 8 patients moved from contemplation to action stage after MI interventions. Conclusions and recommendations: MI sessions seem to be effective in changing health behaviour for patients with musculoskeletal disorders. TTM evaluates health behaviour changes even after brief intervention