Effectiveness of a community-based oral cancer awareness campaign (United States).

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to provide the first systematic evaluation in the United States of a community-based oral cancer awareness campaign.
METHODS: We used a non-equivalent control group design and random-digit-dialing methods to examine billboard effectiveness and pre- and post-billboard impact between intervention and control counties in adult probability samples in Florida, USA.
RESULTS: Respondents in the intervention county were more likely than controls to correctly identify the billboard message to get tested for oral cancer, and less likely than controls to report ever having an oral cancer examination, or to have heard of oral cancer. Results of pre-post analyses within each county showed that oral cancer examinations were significantly more frequent in both counties after the campaign. There were no significant differences between counties on the proportion of individuals who reported having seen the campaign or on any other item measuring billboard awareness or impact.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the Florida billboard campaign had limited success in increasing public awareness. Future cancer awareness campaigns should incorporate theoretical models, target high-risk groups and the broader community and provide culturally relevant messages as part of a multi-media campaign.