Do health promotion messages target cognitive and behavioural correlates of condom use?: A content analysis of safer sex promotion leaflets in two countries

Objective. To categorize and quantify the content of publicly available safer sex promotion leaflets in the UK and Germany and to assess the extent to which this content corresponds to the cognitive and behavioural correlates of condom use identified by theory-based research. Methods. A content analysis using a 45 category coding manual was undertaken. The manual included 20 'correlate-representative' categories identifying text promoting the strongest cognitive and behavioural correlates of condom use. Results. Overall inter-coder reliability was high. Few content differences were observed between the German and UK samples. Leaflets from both countries highlighted information on how people become infected with HIV and advice to contact health care professionals. Few mentioned delaying or abstaining from sexual intercourse. Only 25% of leaflets included text that referred to more than 10 of the 20 correlate-representative categories. Moreover, using one standard deviation above the mean as an indication of frequent inclusion, two-thirds of leafets failed to target frequently more than two of the 20 correlate-representative categories. Conclusions. Some safer sex promotion leaflets frequently promote the strongest cognitive and behavioural correlates of condom use. In general, however, the recommendations of researchers investigating psychological correlates of condom use have not shaped the content of safer sex promotion leaflets.