Effectiveness of recruitment to a smartphone-delivered nutrition intervention in New Zealand: analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Delivery of interventions via smartphone is a relatively new initiative in public health, and limited evidence exists regarding optimal strategies for recruitment. We describe the effectiveness of approaches used to recruit participants to a smartphone-enabled nutrition intervention trial. METHODS: Internet and social media advertising, mainstream media advertising and research team networks were used to recruit New Zealand adults to a fully automated smartphone-delivered nutrition labelling trial (no face-to-face visits were required). Recruitment of Maori and Pacific participants was a key focus and ethically relevant recruitment materials and approaches were used where possible. The effectiveness of recruitment strategies was evaluated using Google Analytics, monitoring of study website registrations and randomisations, and self-reported participant data. The cost of the various strategies and associations with participant demographics were assessed. RESULTS: Over a period of 13 months, there were 2448 registrations on the study website, and 1357 eligible individuals were randomised into the study (55%). Facebook campaigns were the most successful recruitment strategy overall (43% of all randomised participants) and for all ethnic groups (Maori 44%, Pacific 44% and other 43%). Significant associations were observed between recruitment strategy and age (p<0.001), household size (p<0.001), ethnicity (p<0.001), gender (p=0.005) and interest in healthy eating (p=0.022). Facebook campaigns resulted in the highest absolute numbers of study registrations and randomisations (966 and 584, respectively). Network strategies and Facebook campaigns cost least per randomised participant (NZ$4 and NZ$5, respectively), whereas radio advertising costs most (NZ$179 per participant). CONCLUSION: Internet and social media advertising were the most effective and least costly approaches to recruiting participants to a smartphone-delivered trial. These approaches also reached diverse ethnic groups. However, more culturally appropriate recruitment strategies are likely to be necessary in studies where large numbers of participants from specific ethnic groups are sought. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12614000644662; Post-results.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of online, radio and print tobacco control advertisements targeting 25-39 year-old males.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relative cost-effectiveness of various non-television advertising media in encouraging 25-39 year-old male smokers to respond to a cessation-related call to action. Information about how new electronic media compare in effectiveness is important to inform the implementation of future tobacco control media campaigns. METHODS: Two testimonial advertisements featuring members of the target group were developed for radio, press and online media. Multiple waves of media activity were scheduled over a period of seven weeks, including an initial integrated period that included all three media and subsequent single media phases that were interspersed with a week of no media activity. The resulting Quit website hits, Quitline telephone calls, and registrations to online and telephone counselling services were compared to advertising costs to determine the relative cost-effectiveness of each media in isolation and the integrated approach. RESULTS: The online-only campaign phase was substantially more cost-effective than the other phases, including the integrated approach. CONCLUSIONS: This finding is contrary to the current assumption that the use of a consistent message across multiple media simultaneously is the most cost-effective way of reaching and affecting target audiences. IMPLICATIONS: Online advertising may be a highly cost-effective channel for low-budget tobacco control media campaigns.

A low-cost GPS GSM/GPRS telemetry system: performance in stationary field tests and preliminary data on wild otters (Lutra lutra).

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing worldwide use of global positioning system (GPS) telemetry in wildlife research, it has never been tested on any freshwater diving animal or in the peculiar conditions of the riparian habitat, despite this latter being one of the most important habitat types for many animal taxa. Moreover, in most cases, the GPS devices used have been commercial and expensive, limiting their use in low-budget projects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have developed a low-cost, easily constructed GPS GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) and examined its performance in stationary tests, by assessing the influence of different habitat types, including the riparian, as well as water submersion and certain climatic and environmental variables on GPS fix-success rate and accuracy. We then tested the GPS on wild diving animals, applying it, for the first time, to an otter species (Lutra lutra). The rate of locations acquired during the stationary tests reached 63.2%, with an average location error of 8.94 m (SD = 8.55). GPS performance in riparian habitats was principally affected by water submersion and secondarily by GPS inclination and position within the riverbed. Temporal and spatial correlations of location estimates accounted for some variation in the data sets. GPS-tagged otters also provided accurate locations and an even higher GPS fix-success rate (68.2%). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that GPS telemetry is reliably applicable to riparian and even diving freshwater animals. They also highlight the need, in GPS wildlife studies, for performing site-specific pilot studies on GPS functioning as well as for taking into account eventual spatial and temporal correlation of location estimates. The limited price, small dimensions, and high performance of the device presented here make it a useful and cost-effective tool for studies on otters and other aquatic or terrestrial medium-to-large-sized animals.

The association of television and radio with reproductive behavior.

This note analyzes the association between media exposure and reproductive behavior in 48 developing countries. A summary of part of a more extensive Demographic and Health Surveys report, it shows strong connections between media exposure and the use of modern contraception, the number of children desired, and recent fertility. Television viewing is particularly important; it is assumed to expose viewers to aspects of modern life that compete with traditional attitudes toward the family and is associated with greater use of modern contraceptive methods, with a desire for fewer children, and with lower fertility. These relationships are particularly noteworthy because the data measure only the frequency of media exposure with no information about its content.

Colonial modernity and networks in the Japanese empire: the role of Goto Shinpei.

This paper examines how Goto Shinpei (1857-1929) sought to develop imperial networks emanating out of Tokyo in the fields of public health, railways, and communications. These areas helped define colonial modernity in the Japanese empire. In public health, Goto's friendship with the bacteriologist Kitasato Shibasaburo led to the establishment of an Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo. Key scientists from the institute took up positions in colonial medical colleges, creating a public health network that serviced the empire. Much of the empire itself was linked by a network of railways. Goto was the first president of the South Manchuria Railway company (SMR). Communication technologies, especially radio, helped to bring the empire closer. By 1925, the Tokyo Broadcasting Station had begun its public radio broadcasts. Broadcasting soon came under the umbrella of the new organization, the Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK). Goto was NHK's first president. The empire would soon be linked by radio, and it was by radio that Emperor Hirohito announced to the nation in 1945 that the empire had been lost.

Voicing differences: indigenous and urban radio in Argentina, Chile, and Nigeria.

Indigenous cultures throughout the Americas and the rest of the world have to deal with problems of cultural assimilation, migration, and dissemination of their populations. Some of them, in countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Nigeria, have developed radio programming to maintain home languages; gain access to health, education, and employment information; greet friends and relatives; and re-create traditional culture under circumstances of modern pressures but also to open up opportunities. This article explores the capacity and awareness of these contributions in a multicultural world.

A study of low-cost, robust assistive listening system (ALS) based on digital wireless technology.

PURPOSE: We have developed a simple, low-cost digital wireless broadcasting system prototype, intended for a classroom of hearing impaired students. The system is designed to be a low-cost alternative to an existing FM system. METHOD: The system implemented is for short-range communication, with a one-transmitter, multiple-receiver configuration, which is typical for these classrooms. The data is source-coded for voice-band quality, FSK modulated, and broadcasted via a 915 MHz radio frequency. A DES encryption can optionally be added for better information security. RESULTS: Test results show that the system operating range is approximately ten metres, and the sound quality is close to telephone quality as intended. We also discuss performance issues such as sound, power and size, as well as transmission protocols. CONCLUSIONS: The test results are the proof of concept that the prototype is a viable alternative to an existing FM system. Improvements can be made to the system's sound quality via techniques such as channel coding, which is also discussed.

Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of television, radio and print advertisements in promoting the New York smokers' quitline.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the relative effectiveness and cost effectiveness of television, radio and print advertisements to generate calls to the New York smokers' quitline. METHODS: Regression analysis was used to link total county level monthly quitline calls to television, radio and print advertising expenditures. Based on regression results, standardised measures of the relative effectiveness and cost effectiveness of expenditures were computed. RESULTS: There was a positive and statistically significant relation between call volume and expenditures for television (p<0.01) and radio (p<0.001) advertisements and a marginally significant effect for expenditures on newspaper advertisements (p<0.065). The largest effect was for television advertising. However, because of differences in advertising costs, for every $1000 increase in television, radio and newspaper expenditures, call volume increased by 0.1%, 5.7% and 2.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Television, radio and print media all effectively increased calls to the New York smokers' quitline. Although increases in expenditures for television were the most effective, their relatively high costs suggest they are not currently the most cost effective means to promote a quitline. This implies that a more efficient mix of media would place greater emphasis on radio than television. However, because the current study does not adequately assess the extent to which radio expenditures would sustain their effectiveness with substantial expenditure increases, it is not feasible to determine a more optimal mix of expenditures.

The association between advertising and calls to a tobacco quitline.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the cost effectiveness of different types of television and radio advertisements and the time of day in which advertisements were placed in generating calls to the Oregon tobacco quitline. DESIGN: Cost effectiveness was measured by cost per call, calculated as the cost of advertising divided by the number of quitline calls generated by that advertising. Advertising was bought in one-week or two-week blocks and included 27 daytime television buys, 22 evening television buys and 31 radio buys. RESULTS: Cost effectiveness varied widely by medium, time of day and advertisement used. Daytime television was seven times more cost effective than evening television and also more cost effective than radio. The most effective advertisements at generating quitline calls were real life testimonials by people who lost family members to tobacco and advertisements that deal practically with how to quit. CONCLUSIONS: Placement of television advertisements during the day versus the evening can increase an advertisement's effectiveness in generating calls to a quitline. Some advertising messages were more effective than others in generating calls to a quitline. Quitline providers can apply findings from previous research when planning media campaigns. In addition, call volume should be monitored in order to assess the cost effectiveness of different strategies to promote use of the quitline.

Unaffordable or cost-effective?: introducing an emergency referral system in rural Niger.

OBJECTIVES: An important investment was made in two health districts in Niger to organize an emergency referral system. This study estimates its impact and cost-effectiveness in relation with external determinants. METHODS: After installing a solar radio network in the health centres, emergency calls and related data were monitored over 7 years and investment and recurrent costs for the system were estimated. RESULTS: The number of emergency calls increased significantly in both districts. In 2003, the total yearly cost for the district amounted to US dollars 14,147, the cost per useful and successful call was US dollars 49 and the cost per inhabitant and per year was about US dollars 0.06. CONCLUSION: The impressive and immediate impact on the health system, the relatively low recurrent cost and the minimal management requirements for the health service make the investment very worthwhile. Organizing emergency evacuation systems should be a priority for any health district in the world.

Using walkie talkies to overcome the fear of separation in children having surgery.

Having surgery is an unnerving event for both patients and family members. But, when a child requires surgery, yet another fear is added to the stress equation, that is, the unwelcome fear of separation experienced by both the parent and child. This article describes an innovative protocol designed to alleviate this fear of separation experienced by children having surgery.

Cost-effectiveness of television, radio, and print media programs for public mental health education.

Mass media campaigns to influence public attitudes and behaviors in the area of mental health must consider cost-effectiveness, which is based on actual costs, the number of people reached (exposures), and the impact of the program on the individual. Cost per exposure is a critical factor. The authors review their experience in developing media programs in several broadcast formats and in print. Their experience suggests that an effective television production has a very high per-exposure cost and that radio is a more cost-effective way to present health messages. Radio programs also have the advantage of reaching people in their homes or cars or at work. Brief segments may be particularly cost-effective because they can be can be inserted between programs during prime-time hours. Print media--newspapers, magazines, and newsletters--can be cost-effective if magazine or newspaper space is free, but newsletters can be costly due to fixed postage costs. One advantage of print is that it can be reread, clipped out, copied, and passed on.