Measuring nonsolar tanning behavior: indoor and sunless tanning

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Public Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Accurate measurement of indoor tanning and sunless tanning behaviors is crucial for population surveys and intervention studies.
• Existing measurement tools may not adequately capture the nuances of these tanning methods.
• Developing reliable and valid survey items is essential for monitoring trends and assessing behavioral changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess survey items for measuring indoor tanning and sunless tanning.
• To evaluate the clarity, specificity, and recall of developed measurement items.

Main Methods:

• Expert consensus meeting to define measurement issues and develop items.
• In-person interviews with adults and adolescents to assess item clarity and appropriateness.
• Items covered ever tanned indoors, lifetime frequency, and past-year frequency for both tanning types.

Main Results:

• Participants clearly distinguished between indoor tanning (UV radiation) and sunless tanning.
• Two items were needed to differentiate manually applied from booth-applied sunless tanning.
• Recall of past-year tanning frequency was easier than lifetime frequency.

Conclusions:

• Indoor tanning measurement items are recommended for clarity.
• Sunless tanning items require further validation and testing in diverse populations.
• Memory aids may improve recall of lifetime non-solar tanning behaviors.