Evaluating the impact of different message strategies about OSA employed in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Count on Sleep campaign

Abstract

Health campaigns hold promise for promoting general awareness about obstructive sleep apnea. In 2023, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine developed a series of messages as part of their "Count on Sleep" campaign. Three distinct messaging strategies were employed in posts disseminated on Facebook: (1) positive outcome (benefits of obstructive sleep apnea treatment); (2) negative outcome (consequences of untreated obstructive sleep apnea); and (3) partner-focused. We evaluated Facebook analytics to explore which of the 3 strategies was most impactful. The impressions were highest for the positive outcome message (n = 120,062), followed by the negative outcome (n = 12,286) and partner-focused (n = 10,259) messages. Female users were more likely to engage with positive (39% vs 28%) and negative (34% vs 25%) message than males, but sexes were quite balanced in engagement with the partner-focused message (36% vs 36%). There was more engagement from older adults (65 years and older) than from younger adults across all message types.