Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Introduction In 2011, the Mobile County Health Department began a 12-month antismoking educational media campaign to educate citizens on the dangers of secondhand smoke. The campaign overlapped with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 3-month national antismoking Tips from Former Smokers media campaign. We aimed to evaluate the effect of these campaigns on support for smoke-free environments and knowledge of the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Methods Cross-sectional precampaign and postcampaign telephone surveys collected data from a random sample of Mobile County adults in the summers of 2011 and 2012. Outcome measures included changes in support for smoke-free environments and knowledge of the dangers of secondhand smoke. The participation rate among the households that were successfully reached was 45% in 2011 and 44% in 2012.
Results On the postcampaign survey, 80.9% of respondents reported seeing a television advertisement, 29.9% reported hearing a radio advertisement, and 49.0% reported seeing a billboard. Overall, support for smoke-free bars increased significantly after the intervention (38.1% to 43.8%; P = .01) but not for workplaces or restaurants. Self-reported exposure to the media campaign was associated with higher levels of support for smoke-free workplaces, restaurants, and bars.
Conclusion Educational mass media campaigns have the potential to increase support for smoke-free protections and may increase knowledge about the dangers of secondhand smoke among certain populations.
Introduction
Educational mass media campaigns against smoking can be an effective means of changing attitudes and behaviors related to tobacco use. Media campaigns have the potential to change social perceptions of smoking and knowledge about the dangers of secondhand smoke (SHS) and thus may increase support for smoke-free environments. However, research on the effect of educational media campaigns on desire for smoke-free protections is limited. Two such studies have been conducted within the past 5 years in Mexico City, Mexico, and in São Paulo, Brazil, evaluating the effects of media campaigns on support for recently protected smoke-free environments. Results from both studies concluded that exposure to the media messages was positively associated with increased support for the new smoke-free protections. We investigated the effect of an educational media campaign on support for smoke-free environments before the implementation of smoke-free protections.
In 2010, Mobile County, Alabama, home to 413,000 residents, had a higher prevalence of smoking (25.0%) than the national average (17.3%), and only 2 of its 12 municipalities had adopted legislation restricting smoking in indoor public places. Without a state law restricting smoking in indoor public places, municipalities in Alabama are required to enact local legislation to protect residents from SHS. Mobile County was selected in 2010 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to participate in the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative. The purpose of the national CPPW program was to reduce chronic disease associated with tobacco use or obesity through sustainable, high-impact change in systems and environments. The Mobile CPPW program used an antitobacco educational media campaign as one of its evidence-based interventions to help educate residents about the dangers of tobacco use and SHS exposure.
The objective of our evaluation was to assess the reach and potential effects of the Mobile County Just Breathe Smoke Free (Just Breathe) educational media campaign and CDC's Tips from a Former Smoker (Tips) national antismoking media campaign on residents' attitudes toward smoke-free environments and knowledge about the dangers of SHS.