Sun exposure and sunscreen use following a community skin cancer screening

In May 1988, a community skin cancer screening was held, and of the 251 individuals who attended, 214 (85%) completed a follow-up questionnaire. The objective of this study was to examine the associations among attitudes, knowledge, and behavior in those who had attended the screening.

Analysis showed that females were twice as likely to have false positive screening diagnoses as males (odds ratio 2.2; P = 0.06). Attitudes toward tanning were not correlated with knowledge about the harmful effects of excess sun exposure (rp = -0.02; P = 0.67) or with behaviors such as reported sun exposure (for positive attitude versus "poor" attitude, linear trend P less than 0.11) and sunscreen use (linear trend P = 0.70). Behavior, defined as reported sunscreen use, was highly correlated with knowledge, both of the harmful effects of the sun and of the definition of SPF (linear trend P less than 0.001). Sunscreen use was also associated with the younger age group (those less than 59, P less than 0.05), female sex (P less than 0.001), higher education (P less than 0.05), and perceived risk for melanoma (P less than 0.05).

We conclude that more targeted education in the domain of knowledge would benefit males and those over the age of 59.