Justification for Change

CDC and ATSDR Health Message Testing System (OMB No. 0920-0572)
Change Request for Tobacco Control Applications
June 21, 2010
Summary
The HMTS Question Bank is a pre-approved reference set of questions for health message
testing applications. The Question Bank includes questions in six categories:
Demographic Questions
Market Research Experience Questions
Introductory Questions
Core Questions
Activity/Task Questions
Follow-up Questions

(Attachment 4 of the Information Collection Request)
(Attachment 5)
(Attachment 6)
(Attachment 7)
(Attachment 8)
(Attachment 9)

Additional questions are needed in the HMTS to improve health messages for tobacco control, to
measure the potential effectiveness of the messages and to identify or segment target audiences
for specific tobacco control campaigns or related health message activities. CDC requests OMB
approval to add questions to the HMTS that will assess respondents’ smoking history, intent or
readiness to change smoking behavior, and reactions to health messages aimed at preventing or
reducing smoking behavior. New questions will be added to the following categories:
Demographic Questions
Introductory Questions
Core Questions
Follow-up Questions

(Attachment 4)
(Attachment 6)
(Attachment 7)
(Attachment 9)

The proposed new questions are summarized in Attachment CR-1. Ten questions have
previously been approved by OMB for use in other data collections [see “Tobacco Use
Supplements to the Current Population Survey (“TUS-CPS”), OMB No. 0925-0368, exp.
3/31/2013]. Seven questions are new questions designed by CDC for health message testing
applications. In addition, minor modifications to existing questions are also proposed. In some
cases these modifications provide additional response options or response scales. In other cases
the modification to an existing question provides alternate introductory wording that is more
compatible with data collection through an on-line survey format. Minor changes to existing
questions are identified as “variants” in the revised HMTS instruments (see Attachments 4, 6, 7
and 9).
Attachments
CR-1. List of proposed new questions for the HMTS
REVISED HMTS Attachment 4, Demographic Questions
REVISED HMTS Attachment 6, Introductory Questions
REVISED HMTS Attachment 7, Core Questions
REVISED HMTS Attachment 9, Follow-up Questions

Justification for Change
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the Office on Smoking and Health (OSH), is
the lead federal agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control. OSH’s goals are to
prevent tobacco use among youth and young adults, promote tobacco use cessation among adults
and youth, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, and identify and eliminate tobacco-related
health disparities. OSH works in partnership with other federal agencies such as the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute, state and local governments, and
other organizations to communicate timely, relevant information to constituents, policy makers,
and the public.
The proposed changes are necessary to improve CDC’s capacity to evaluate the potential
effectiveness of health messages for preventing initiation of tobacco use, reducing exposure to
secondhand smoke and increasing knowledge of the health consequences of smoking. In order
to provide relevant information to different groups in the population, it is essential to identify
respondents by selected demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, occupational
status) and by smoking status (current smoker, ex smoker, never smoker). For example, if all of
the messages that are disseminated are designed for individuals who are already smoking, their
relevance for those who do not smoke is questionable. In addition, stages of change theory and
behavioral intentions have been shown to be important predictors of future behavior; therefore,
collection of this information for testing health messages with specific audiences is necessary.
No changes are proposed that affect the HMTS burden estimate.
Uses of the Information Collection
Addition of the proposed questions to the HMTS will support the development and
dissemination of health messages for tobacco control that are based on scientific principles of
communication. OSH disseminates tested tobacco control messages by sponsoring or
conducting communication campaigns, providing technical assistance to external partners, and
through its on-line Media Campaign Resource Center (MCRC). The MCRC provides public
access to CDC-licensed advertisements developed by more than 25 state health departments,
nonprofit health organizations, and federal agencies. Ads and public service announcements are
available for a range of formats including television, radio, printed materials and billboards.
Tobacco use is also correlated with other behavioral risk factors. The addition of questions about
smoking history and behavior will also be useful in the development and testing of messages for
other health-related topics.
Finally, the new HMTS questions will facilitate CDC’s ability to test multiple messages
concurrently. Questions related to message comparison and ranking will allow CDC to design
more effective health communication campaigns and more effective public health interventions.