A content analysis of military commander messages about tobacco and other health issues in military installation newspapers: what do military commanders say about tobacco?

Military installation newspapers are a primary means used by military commanders to communicate information about topics important to military personnel including leadership, training issues, installation events, safety concerns, and vital health issues. We conducted a content analysis of military commanders' messages about health issues that were published in online military installation newspapers/newsfeeds. We identified a total of 75 publicly accessible installation newspapers/newsfeeds with commanders' messages (n = 39 Air Force, n = 19 Army, n = 7 Navy, n = 1 Marine, and n = 9 Joint Bases). Commander messages published from January 2012 to December 2012 were collected, screened, and coded. Coder inter-rater reliability was 98.9%. Among the 2,479 coded commanders' messages, 132 (5.3%) addressed a health topic as the primary focus. There were no significant differences between service branches in the percentage of health-oriented messages (χ(2) = 5.019, p = 0.285). The most commonly addressed health topics were exercise/fitness (23.5%), other mental health concerns (19.7%), alcohol/driving under the influence (13.6%), and suicide (12.1%). Tobacco use was directly addressed as a primary health aim in only two commanders' messages (1.5%). Health topics, and particularly tobacco-related content, are rarely written about by military commanders. The absence of tobacco-related health messages from line leadership contributes to the perception that tobacco control is a low priority.
(Reprint & Copyright © 2015 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.)