HMTS Template

Health Message Testing System Expedited Review Form
1. Title of Study: (Please append screener and questionnaire)

Message Testing with Mothers for CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO)

2. Study Population: (Discuss study population and explain how they will be selected/recruited.)

Focus groups and an online survey will be conducted with mothers of children ages 1-8. Participants will
be selected/recruited using a professional recruitment firm (for focus groups) and using existing online
panels (for online survey). (Refer to DNPAO message testing supplement document for more information)
Respondent characteristics:
Number of subject: 2160

Number of males:

0

Age range: 25+

Number of females: 2160

Racial/ethnic composition: Diverse mix of respondents(survey)& local(foc grp) composition
Special group status: (e.g., risk group, health care providers)
Type of group(s): Mothers of children ages 1-8
Geographic location(s): Online survey: National; Focus Groups: 8 grps in the Midwest/
Mid-Atlantic & 8 grps in the South (up to 4 locations per region)
3. Incentives: (State what incentive will be offered and justify proposed incentives to be used in study.)

Survey participants will receive reward points from the survey company valued at $0.50 to $1.50. Focus
group participants will receive $75. As participants will be mothers of young children, an audience with
many competing family responsibilities, incentives are needed to attract a diverse mix of participants and
that sufficient numbers will participate so the data collected is useful. (Refer to supplement.)

4. Study method: (Please check one below)
Central location intercept interview:
Online Interview:
Telephone interview:

Focus group:
Individual in-depth interview (cognitive interview):

(CATI used: yes or no): No

Other (describe): Online survey (conducted remotely through an online survey platform)

5. Purpose of the overall communication effort into which this health message(s) will fit:
(Please provide 2-3 sentences below.)
CDC/DNPAO is conducting message testing to better understand how to most effectively communicate
with key audiences to meet its mission of preventing chronic disease among Americans by promoting
healthy eating and active living. The current effort seeks to confirm that existing CDC/DNPAO messages
are clear, salient, appealing, and persuasive to mothers of children ages 1-8 in order to ensure future
communication efforts are successful in reaching these audiences and have intended effects.
6. Category of time sensitivity: (Please check one below)
Health emergency:
Time-limited audience access:
Press coverage correction:
Time-limited congressional/administrative mandate:
Trend Tracking
Ineffective existing materials due to historical event/social trends:
7. Describe nature of time sensitivity: (Please provide 2-3 sentences below.)
1 in 3 children are overweight or have obesity and almost 40% of 20-39 year old women have obesity
(with up to 60% in some racial/ethnic groups). Communication is a key component of obesity prevention
efforts. However, to date, DNPAO has conducted limited efforts to understand how to best communicate
with the audiences the Division’s activities need to reach. Testing DNPAO's messages to assure they
resonate with this key audience is imperative to the success of CDC's obesity prevention efforts.

8. Number of burden hours requested: 767

BURDEN HOURS
Category of Respondent

No. of
Participation
Respondents Time

Burden

Mothers of children ages 1-8: Online Survey (inc. screening/scheduling)

2000

a 15/60

500 hrs

Mothers of children ages 1-8: Focus Group (inc. screening/scheduling)

160

b. 100/60

267 hrs

Totals
9. Are you using questions from the approved question bank?

2160

767hrs

No

If yes, please list the item number(s) for questions used from the question bank separated by a comma.
(e.g., 1a, 3c, 130d)
N/A

*** Items below to be completed by Office of Associate Director for Communication (OADC)***
1. Number of burden hours remaining in current year's allocation:
2. OADC confirmation of time-sensitivity:
Yes:
No:

Project Officer
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