Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys
Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of a population-based, statewide public health intervention designed to improve women's awareness and knowledge of the link between alcohol and cancer. Design: Cross-sectional tracking surveys conducted pre-intervention and post-intervention (waves I and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6250 |
| _version_ | 1848745022007017472 |
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| author | Dixon, H. Pratt, Steve Scully, M. Miller, J. Patterson, C. Hood, R. Slevin, Terry |
| author_facet | Dixon, H. Pratt, Steve Scully, M. Miller, J. Patterson, C. Hood, R. Slevin, Terry |
| author_sort | Dixon, H. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of a population-based, statewide public health intervention designed to improve women's awareness and knowledge of the link between alcohol and cancer. Design: Cross-sectional tracking surveys conducted pre-intervention and post-intervention (waves I and III of campaign). Setting: Western Australia. Participants: Cross-sectional samples of Western Australian women aged 25–54 years before the campaign (n=136) and immediately after wave I (n=206) and wave III (n=155) of the campaign. Intervention: The ‘Alcohol and Cancer’ mass media campaign ran from May 2010 to May 2011 and consisted of three waves of paid television advertising with supporting print advertisements. Main outcome measures: Campaign awareness; knowledge of drinking guidelines and the link between alcohol and cancer; intentions towards drinking. Results: Prompted recognition of the campaign increased from 67% following wave I to 81% following wave III (adjusted OR (adj OR)=2.31, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.00, p=0.003). Improvements in women's knowledge that drinking alcohol on a regular basis increases cancer risk were found following wave I (adj OR=2.60, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.30, p<0.001) and wave III (adj OR=4.88, 95% CI 2.55 to 9.36, p<0.001) compared with baseline. Knowledge of the recommended number of standard drinks for low risk in the long term increased between baseline and wave I (adj OR=1.68, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.76, p=0.041), but not baseline and wave III (adj OR=1.42, 95% CI 0.84 to 2.39, p=0.191). Among women who drink alcohol, the proportion expressing intentions to reduce alcohol consumption increased significantly between baseline and wave III (adj OR=2.38, 95% CI 1.11 to 5.12, p=0.026). However, no significant reductions in recent drinking behaviour were found following the campaign.Conclusions: Results indicate a population-based mass media campaign can reach the target audience and raise awareness of links between alcohol and cancer, and knowledge of drinking guidelines. However, a single campaign may be insufficient to measurably curb drinking behaviour in a culture where pro-alcohol social norms and product marketing are pervasive. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:10:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-6250 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T06:10:45Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-62502017-09-13T14:42:52Z Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys Dixon, H. Pratt, Steve Scully, M. Miller, J. Patterson, C. Hood, R. Slevin, Terry Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of a population-based, statewide public health intervention designed to improve women's awareness and knowledge of the link between alcohol and cancer. Design: Cross-sectional tracking surveys conducted pre-intervention and post-intervention (waves I and III of campaign). Setting: Western Australia. Participants: Cross-sectional samples of Western Australian women aged 25–54 years before the campaign (n=136) and immediately after wave I (n=206) and wave III (n=155) of the campaign. Intervention: The ‘Alcohol and Cancer’ mass media campaign ran from May 2010 to May 2011 and consisted of three waves of paid television advertising with supporting print advertisements. Main outcome measures: Campaign awareness; knowledge of drinking guidelines and the link between alcohol and cancer; intentions towards drinking. Results: Prompted recognition of the campaign increased from 67% following wave I to 81% following wave III (adjusted OR (adj OR)=2.31, 95% CI 1.33 to 4.00, p=0.003). Improvements in women's knowledge that drinking alcohol on a regular basis increases cancer risk were found following wave I (adj OR=2.60, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.30, p<0.001) and wave III (adj OR=4.88, 95% CI 2.55 to 9.36, p<0.001) compared with baseline. Knowledge of the recommended number of standard drinks for low risk in the long term increased between baseline and wave I (adj OR=1.68, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.76, p=0.041), but not baseline and wave III (adj OR=1.42, 95% CI 0.84 to 2.39, p=0.191). Among women who drink alcohol, the proportion expressing intentions to reduce alcohol consumption increased significantly between baseline and wave III (adj OR=2.38, 95% CI 1.11 to 5.12, p=0.026). However, no significant reductions in recent drinking behaviour were found following the campaign.Conclusions: Results indicate a population-based mass media campaign can reach the target audience and raise awareness of links between alcohol and cancer, and knowledge of drinking guidelines. However, a single campaign may be insufficient to measurably curb drinking behaviour in a culture where pro-alcohol social norms and product marketing are pervasive. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6250 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006511 BMJ Publishing Group fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Dixon, H. Pratt, Steve Scully, M. Miller, J. Patterson, C. Hood, R. Slevin, Terry Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title | Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title_full | Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title_fullStr | Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title_short | Using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: Cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| title_sort | using a mass media campaign to raise women's awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer: cross-sectional pre-intervention and post-intervention evaluation surveys |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/6250 |