Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1990 May;80(5):565–569. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.5.565

Long-term effectiveness of mass media led antismoking campaigns in Australia.

J P Pierce 1, P Macaskill 1, D Hill 1
PMCID: PMC1404648  PMID: 2327533

Abstract

A community antismoking campaign began in Sydney, Australia in 1983, and in Melbourne in 1984. These campaigns purchased prime-time television advertising spots to set the community agenda. An intense effort was made to ensure that antismoking activities were maximized at the school, organizational, and community level. Smoking prevalences in both cities from 1981 were fitted with a statistical model to identify any underlying trend, to assess any immediate impact, and to assess the longer term effect of continuing to conduct such campaigns, i.e. to identify any change in the underlying trend. During the years before the antismoking campaigns, there was no observable trend in smoking prevalence in either city. At the beginning of the campaigns, there was an immediate drop of more than two percentage points in male and female smoking prevalence in both cities. Thereafter, a decline of about 1.5 percentage points per year was observed among males. No post campaign trend was observed in smoking prevalence for women in either city. These data support conducting coordinated community campaigns to reduce current smoking prevalence.

Full text

PDF
565

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Connell D. B., Turner R. R., Mason E. F. Summary of findings of the School Health Education Evaluation: health promotion effectiveness, implementation, and costs. J Sch Health. 1985 Oct;55(8):316–321. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.1985.tb05656.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dwyer T., Pierce J. P., Hannam C. D., Burke N. Evaluation of the Sydney "Quit. For Life" anti-smoking campaign. Part 2. Changes in smoking prevalence. Med J Aust. 1986 Mar 31;144(7):344–347. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Farquhar J. W., Maccoby N., Wood P. D., Alexander J. K., Breitrose H., Brown B. W., Jr, Haskell W. L., McAlister A. L., Meyer A. J., Nash J. D. Community education for cardiovascular health. Lancet. 1977 Jun 4;1(8023):1192–1195. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92727-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hill D. J., White V. M., Gray N. J. Measures of tobacco smoking in Australia 1974-1986 by means of a standard method. Med J Aust. 1988 Jul 4;149(1):10–12. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1988.tb120475.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kottke T. E., Battista R. N., DeFriese G. H., Brekke M. L. Attributes of successful smoking cessation interventions in medical practice. A meta-analysis of 39 controlled trials. JAMA. 1988 May 20;259(19):2883–2889. doi: 10.1001/jama.259.19.2883. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Pierce J. P., Aldrich R. N., Hanratty S., Dwyer T., Hill D. Uptake and quitting smoking trends in Australia 1974-1984. Prev Med. 1987 Mar;16(2):252–260. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(87)90088-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Pierce J. P., Dwyer T., Chamberlain A., Aldrich R. N., Shelley J. M. Targeting the smoker in an anti-smoking campaign. Prev Med. 1987 Nov;16(6):816–824. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(87)90021-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Pierce J. P., Dwyer T., DiGiusto E., Carpenter T., Hannam C., Amin A., Yong C., Sarfaty G., Shaw J., Burke N. Cotinine validation of self-reported smoking in commercially run community surveys. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40(7):689–695. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(87)90105-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pierce J. P., Dwyer T., Frape G., Chapman S., Chamberlain A., Burke N. Evaluation of the Sydney "Quit. For Life" anti-smoking campaign. Part 1. Achievement of intermediate goals. Med J Aust. 1986 Mar 31;144(7):341–344. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Richmond R. L., Austin A., Webster I. W. Three year evaluation of a programme by general practitioners to help patients to stop smoking. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986 Mar 22;292(6523):803–806. doi: 10.1136/bmj.292.6523.803. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Russell M. A., Wilson C., Taylor C., Baker C. D. Effect of general practitioners' advice against smoking. Br Med J. 1979 Jul 28;2(6184):231–235. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6184.231. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Salonen J. T., Kottke T. E., Jacobs D. R., Jr, Hannan P. J. Analysis of community-based cardiovascular disease prevention studies--evaluation issues in the North Karelia Project and the Minnesota Heart Health Program. Int J Epidemiol. 1986 Jun;15(2):176–182. doi: 10.1093/ije/15.2.176. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Salonen J. T., Puska P., Kottke T. E., Tuomilehto J. Changes in smoking, serum cholesterol and blood pressure levels during a community-based cardiovascular disease prevention program--the North Karelia Project. Am J Epidemiol. 1981 Jul;114(1):81–94. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a113177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Surveillance in occupational health and safety. Am J Public Health. 1989 Dec;79 (Suppl):1–63. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wilson D. M., Taylor D. W., Gilbert J. R., Best J. A., Lindsay E. A., Willms D. G., Singer J. A randomized trial of a family physician intervention for smoking cessation. JAMA. 1988 Sep 16;260(11):1570–1574. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES