Brown M L, Potosky A L
Public Opin Q. 1990 Fall;54(3):317-29. doi: 10.1086/269209.
Little previous research has been done on the public health impact of mass media coverage of cancer episodes of public figures. This paper uses a variety of data sources to examine the impact of President Reagan's colon cancer episode of July, 1985. Records of phone calls to the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Institute are examined as a measure of public interest and concern about colorectal cancer; data on the use of two colorectal early detection tests--proctoscopy and fecal occult blood tests--are looked at as a measure of behavioral change; and data on the incidence of early and advanced colorectal cancer are used to estimate the potential public health impact of this behavioral change. We find that there was a sharp, albeit somewhat transitory, increase in public interest in colorectal cancer in the wake of President Reagan's colon cancer episode, with a corresponding increase in the use of early detection tests. The incidence data on early and advanced disease is indicative of a beneficial public health impact, but this can be confirmed only after additional data on mortality becomes available.
此前很少有研究关注大众媒体对公众人物患癌事件的报道所产生的公共卫生影响。本文运用多种数据来源，考察了1985年7月里根总统结肠癌事件的影响。对拨打美国国立癌症研究所癌症信息服务热线的记录进行了分析，以此衡量公众对结直肠癌的兴趣和关注；研究了两种结直肠癌早期检测方法（直肠镜检查和粪便潜血检测）的使用数据，作为行为改变的一项指标；利用早期和晚期结直肠癌的发病率数据，估算这一行为改变可能对公共卫生产生的影响。我们发现，里根总统患结肠癌事件之后，公众对结直肠癌的兴趣急剧增加，尽管这种增加在一定程度上是暂时的，同时早期检测方法的使用也相应增加。早期和晚期疾病的发病率数据表明这对公共卫生产生了有益影响，但只有在获得更多关于死亡率的数据之后才能证实这一点。
