Pierce J P, Anderson D M, Romano R M, Meissner H I, Odenkirchen J C
University of California (San Diego), Cancer Center.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 1992 May 6;84(9):677-83. doi: 10.1093/jnci/84.9.677.
Although many smokers report making attempts to quit, few seek help or are successful in their attempts. Some of the barriers to seeking help can be overcome by a telephone counseling and information service like that offered by the Cancer Information Service of the National Cancer Institute. This service has been promoted by antismoking public service announcements produced by the Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
We determined whether such nationally televised public service announcements were associated with increased use of the Cancer Information Service. We assessed the importance of specifically promoting the telephone line and identified the characteristics of the individuals who responded to such promotion.
We combined the frequency-of-call data from the Cancer Information Service with the data on the frequency and reach of the television spots.
During this 5-year study (1983-1987), the Cancer Information Service received a notably disproportionate number of calls in 3 specific months (August 1983, January 1985, and January 1987). In each case, more than 20% of all calls in that year were received in that month (expected percentage = 8% if the calls had been evenly distributed). These peak periods were associated with the showing of the three public service announcements that mentioned the telephone number of the Cancer Information Service. These promotions were particularly effective in increasing the percentage of callers who were male, who were under the age of 40 years, or who had received a high school education or less.
Television is an effective medium for supporting antismoking goals by motivating more smokers to seek help to quit.
It is important to identify whether the aid offered by the Cancer Information Service hotline is effective in helping the caller to quit. Future work must concentrate on the most effective strategies for using this initial contact to provide aid to prevent relapse, thus maximizing the potential impact of the public service announcement campaigns.
尽管许多吸烟者表示曾尝试戒烟，但很少有人寻求帮助或戒烟成功。一些寻求帮助的障碍可以通过电话咨询和信息服务来克服，比如美国国立癌症研究所癌症信息服务部提供的服务。美国卫生与公众服务部疾病控制中心吸烟与健康办公室制作的反吸烟公益广告对这项服务起到了推广作用。
我们确定此类全国性电视公益广告是否与癌症信息服务部的使用增加有关。我们评估了专门宣传热线电话的重要性，并确定了对这种宣传做出回应的个人的特征。
我们将癌症信息服务部的通话频率数据与电视广告的频率和覆盖范围数据相结合。
在这项为期5年的研究（1983 - 1987年）中，癌症信息服务部在3个特定月份（1983年8月、1985年1月和1987年1月）接到的电话数量明显不成比例。在每种情况下，当年该月接到的电话占全年所有电话的20%以上（如果电话均匀分布，预期比例为8%）。这些高峰期与三条提及癌症信息服务部电话号码的公益广告的播出有关。这些宣传在增加男性来电者、40岁以下来电者或高中及以下学历来电者的比例方面特别有效。
电视是一种有效的媒介，通过促使更多吸烟者寻求戒烟帮助来支持反吸烟目标。
确定癌症信息服务热线提供的帮助在帮助来电者戒烟方面是否有效很重要。未来的工作必须集中在利用这一初步联系提供预防复吸帮助的最有效策略上，从而最大限度地发挥公益广告活动的潜在影响。
