Impact of a mass media campaign to increase public awareness of hypertension

OBJECTIVES
We evaluated the effect of a nationwide media campaign on hypertension awareness in the population, which was implemented with the aim of spreading key messages related to optimal blood pressure levels and encouraging blood pressure measurements.

STUDY DESIGN
A nationwide project called “12/8 Awareness Campaign” was implemented between October 2005 and January 2006 using all available mass and outdoor media aiming to improve the knowledge of people on normal blood pressure values and to encourage regular blood pressure measurements. Four survey questions to inquire the level of awareness related to optimal blood pressure levels, hypertension, and hypertension-related disease conditions were directed via face-to-face interviews to two separate samples representing the general Turkish population before (n=1716) and after (n=1725) the campaign, respectively. The answers of the pre- and post-campaign individuals were compared.

RESULTS
After the campaign, the percentage of participants who did not know their blood pressure levels decreased from 54.8% to 47.8%, the percentage of those who checked their blood pressure within the past two months increased from 34.3% to 39.6%, and the percentage of those who were aware of the optimal blood pressure levels rose from 51.8% to 58.6% (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION
The campaign contributed significantly to the awareness of hypertension in general population, which is highly encouraging for future efforts for early detection of hypertension and prevention of related morbidity and mortality.