Sunglasses and clothing--an unhealthy correlation?

Increasing awareness of health effects of solar ultraviolet radiation has focused attention on protection measures, including sunglasses. Sunglasses, or fashion glasses with tinted lenses, may be associated with some risks, and quality is not evident from casual inspection. This study investigates one possible 'hazard' of sunglasses--that they may induce behavioural changes which reduce the wearer's tendency to use adequate sun protection for the rest of the body. Findings consistent with such a proposition were shown in a photographic survey of 373 people in the summer of 1991 in Perth, Western Australia. This revealed maladaptive associations between the wearing of sunglasses and a high degree of leg or arm exposure as recorded by length of sleeves or trouser legs. This was significant for the arms and the legs in males (P less than 0.05), but approached significance only for the arms in females (P less than 0.10). There was no significant association between degrees of arm and leg exposure in either sex. The health implications of these maladaptive behaviours, and some advantages and disadvantages of the survey technique, are discussed. The results suggest that promotion of sun-protective behaviour should encourage the use of both sunglasses and protective clothing, as subjects' behaviours with respect to these do not appear to be correlated in a rational manner. If public awareness of links between skin cancer and eye disease could be increased, promotion of sunglasses might lead to a reduction in the incidence of skin cancers in general, not just those in the periorbital area.