Message on a bottle: are alcohol warning labels about cancer appropriate?

Miller, Emma R., Ramsey, Imogen J., Baratiny, Genevieve Y., and Olver, Ian N. (2016) Message on a bottle: are alcohol warning labels about cancer appropriate? BMC Public Health, 16. 139. pp. 1-10.

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Abstract

Background: Although most Australians are unaware of the risk, there is strong evidence for a direct link between alcohol consumption and many types of cancer. Warning labels on alcohol products have been proposed as a cost-effective strategy to inform the community of this health risk. We aimed to identify how Australians might respond to such an approach.

Methods: We conducted a national online survey canvassing responses to four separate cancer warning messages on labels. The graphically presented messages were informed by qualitative data from a series of focus groups among self-identified 'light-to-moderate' drinkers. For each label, participants were asked their level of agreement with impact statements about raising awareness, prompting conversation, influencing drinking behaviour and educating others about cancer risk. We analysed responses according to demographic and other factors, including self-reported drinking behaviour (using the 3-item Alcohol Use Disorder Test-AUDIT-C-scores).

Results: Approximately 1600 participants completed the survey, which was open to all Australian adults over a period of 1 month in 2014. Overall, the labels were well received, with the majority (>70 %) agreeing all labels could raise awareness and prompt conversations about the cancer risk associated with alcohol. Around 50 % or less agreed that the labels could influence drinking behaviour, but larger proportions agreed that the labels would prompt them to discuss the issue with family and friends. Although sex, AUDIT-C score and age were significantly associated with agreement on bivariate analysis, multivariate analyses demonstrated that being inclined to act upon warning label recommendations in general was the most important predictor of agreement with all of the impact statements. Having a low AUDIT-C score also predicted agreement that the labels might prompt behaviour change in friends.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that providing detailed warnings about cancer risk on alcohol products is a viable means of increasing public awareness of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption. Further research is needed to explore the ability of such warnings to influence behavioural intentions and actual drinking behaviour.

Item ID: 43339
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1471-2458
Keywords: alcohol, cancer prevention, warning labels
Additional Information:

© 2016 Miller et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Funders: Australian Research Council (ARC), Cancer Council Australia, Drug and Alcohol Services of South Australia
Projects and Grants: ARC LP 120200175
Date Deposited: 09 Mar 2016 07:48
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420603 Health promotion @ 100%
SEO Codes: 92 HEALTH > 9201 Clinical Health (Organs, Diseases and Abnormal Conditions) > 920102 Cancer and Related Disorders @ 50%
92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920205 Health Education and Promotion @ 50%
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