COULD IT BE ASTHMA - THE IMPACT OF A MASS-MEDIA CAMPAIGN AIMED AT RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT ASTHMA IN AUSTRALIA

Asthma is a very 'common chronic illness in Australia; however, unreco gnized and under-treated asthma is responsible for much preventable mo rbidity in the community. In 1988, a coalition of private and public s ector agencies was formed to conduct a national mass communications pr ogram aimed at increasing awareness about asthma. This pilot campaign comprised a mailout to all primary care physicians and a mass media ca mpaign, entitled ''Could it be asthma?''. The impact of this media-bas ed strategy was assessed using population surveys of 1300 adults befor e and after the campaign. Following the campaign, recall of recent ast hma media messages increased from 24 to 49% (P < 0.001) and the propor tion who recognized possible asthma symptoms in their household increa sed from 3.4 to 5.5% following the campaign. Of those with symptoms, t wice as many reported that they visited a doctor to have their symptom s assessed after the campaign. Knowledge of asthma symptoms was signif icantly higher following the campaign (P < 0.001), after adjustment fo r age, sex and the presence of asthma in the respondents family. The c ampaign appeared to have some success in raising awareness about asthm a, and has been followed by the development of a National Asthma Campa ign in Australia focusing on reducing asthma morbidity and improving i ts management.