A novel approach to public education about opioid safety

Distribution of information to the public is important given the growing epidemic of preventable deaths attributed to prescription opioids, now outnumbering deaths caused by illicit drugs. A brief video format public service announcement (PSA) was created and studied to measure recall, likeability, future consideration, and other metrics representing impact of exposure. The PSA was tested in 8 National CineMedia movie theaters in the Cincinnati, Nashville, Washington D.C., and Charleston-Huntington demographic market areas. A sample of 300 adults exposed to the PSA was interviewed on six selected days of the month (Tuesday –Sunday). Respondents had to be Adults 25-54 years of age, attending a PG, PG-13 or R-rated film, and had to have been in their seats at least 20 minutes before the movie previews began. In terms of total recall, 61% of moviegoers recalled the ad either aided or unaided. Eighty six percent of moviegoers positively rated likeability. All (100%) of those recalling the ad agreed that “The main message of the ad was to properly manage, store, and dispose of opioid pain medication;” 98% agreed that “The ad makes me more aware of the dangers of sharing prescription pain medications;” 97% agreed that “The ad makes me more aware of the dangers of taking someone else’s prescription pain medications;” and 97% agreed that “The ad makes me think about proper prescription pain medication storage.” Eighty five percent of moviegoers recalling the ad said they were more likely to be more careful with their pain medication in the future. The brief video format of a PSA embedded into movie theater preview series appears to be an effective vehicle for reaching the public in a non-clinical setting. Funding sources to sponsor wider dissemination will be necessary for broader reach and may have positive wide spread public health implications.