Association between Visual Message and Health Knowledge in a 4‐month Follow‐up Study at Worksites

Association between Visual Message and Health Knowledge in a 4‐month Follow‐up Study at Worksites: Shinichi Sugiyama, et al. Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University—Objectives This study evaluated a simple workplace intervention that used visual messages to create awareness of two highly specific recommendations for good health. Methods Four worksites were recruited in Iwakuni, Japan. The 4‐month intervention used three promotional media—A2‐size posters, A4‐size lyers and displays on the company intranet. The visual messages were designed with silhouettes, pictograms and slogans. Knowledge acquisition concerning the two recommendations (daily vegetable intake of 350g and 23 exercises weekly) was evaluated using questionnaires. In addition, recall of media and attitudes toward health behavior were assessed. Results Of the 2,322 workers, 827 responded to both the pre‐ and postintervention surveys. Correct responses at the four worksites increased from initial levels of 36–48% to 38–73% for the vegetable intake questions and from 7–14% to 7–59% for the physical activity questions. Media recall results were 35–73% for posters, 20–43% for flyers and 19% for intranet. The workers who recalled the posters and flyers had more correct answers on knowledge questions than those who did not recall the posters or lyers (p<0.01). In multivariate analyses, seeing the visual messages was associated with a positive change in response to physical activity questions (odds ratio=1.49–2.03), and the number of media recalled was also significant (odds ratio=1.16–1.17). Conclusions Interventions with a combination of media and simple visual messages should be considered for health promotion among general populations at worksites.