Newspaper Coverage of Glaucoma, Diabetic Eye Disease, and Low Vision Prepared by Alec Ulasevich, Ph.D. American Institutes for Research For National Eye Health Education Program National Eye Institute

Why Study Media Coverage? Media tells the general public, as well as policy makers and other stakeholders what to think about and how to think about it.

Evaluation Goals To assess information about health topics conveyed to the general public To assess media advocacy activities

Methodology Search of Lexis/Nexis newspaper data 1997 to 2001 Exclusion of announcements and articles on alternative treatments Coding characteristics of each article Coding content of each article

Content Codes Program Area (Glaucoma, Diabetic Eye Disease, Low Vision) Topic of the article (e.g., outreach, advances in treatment, insurance coverage) Health Information (e.g., does the article report prevalence, risk factors, or advocates early detection) Mention of NEHEP Partners

Findings: Program Areas 268 articles were found Glaucoma: Most covered topic area, 69% as primary focus, and 75% as primary and secondary (n=185) Low Vision: 23% primary focus and 27% overall (n=62) Diabetic Eye Disease: 8% primary focus, but 16.5% overall (n=21)

Findings: Coverage During Designated National Months

Findings: Top Three Topics by Program Area Glaucoma n=185 Low Vision n=62 Diabetic Eye Disease n=21 Advance In Treatment (32%) Outreach (40%)Outreach (48%) Specific Health Information (32%) Advances in Treatment (37%) Survey results (33%) Outreach (28%)Specific Health Information (32%) Best practices (29%)

Findings: Coverage of Topics During Designated National Awareness Months Glaucoma Health information (32%) Advances in treatment (32%) Outreach (28%) Diabetic Eye Disease Outreach (89%) Best practices recommendations (44%) Survey results (22%)

Findings: Risk Factors by Program Area Risk Factor (overall percent ) Glaucoma n=185 Low Vision n=62 DED n=21 Age (42%)47%37%10% Predisposition (34%) 43%18%10% Race/Ethnicity (31%) 41%8%14%

Findings : Percent of Articles Encouraging Eye Exams GlaucomaLow VisionDED General (25%) 27%18%29% Specific (21%) 23%8%48%

Findings: Disease Explanation and Prevalence Reporting % Providing Explanation % Reporting Prevalence Glaucoma52%47% Low Vision37%40% DED19%67% Overall46%47%

Findings: NEHEP Partner Mentions 50% of all articles mentioned one of NEHEP Partners Articles on advancements in treatment, insurance coverage, and those presenting specific health information were more likely to mention Partners. Articles mentioning Partners were no more likely to report risk factors, to explain the disease or to report prevalence.

Conclusions Newspaper media does a fair job reporting information about the program areas Most articles on diabetic eye disease encourage a specific eye exam Coverage of outreach efforts is outstanding given more typical media emphasis on treatment advances Opportunity for partners to harvest the power of the media to advance public health agenda