Defining "intermittent UVR exposure"

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is linked to intermittent ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure.
• Previous assessments relied on retrospective questionnaires, lacking a uniform definition for intermittent UVR exposure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To objectively define and quantify intermittent UVR exposure.
• To compare the predictive power of an objective measure versus questionnaire data for skin damage surrogates.

Main Methods:

• Collected personal UVR dosimetry data, sun behavior diaries, and questionnaires from adults and children.
• Defined intermittent UVR exposure as days exceeding 3x individual average daily UVR dose or individual constitutive skin type.
• Used nevi and lentigines density as surrogates for CMM risk.

Main Results:

• Identified 1241 intermittent days (7.2%) out of 17,277 total days among 148 participants using the dosimetry-based definition.
• The number of intermittent days significantly predicted nevi and lentigo density (R(2)=0.15 and R(2)=0.40).
• Retrospective questionnaire data showed lower prediction accuracy for nevi and lentigo density.

Conclusions:

• Introduced a well-defined, objective measure for intermittent UVR exposure.
• This objective measure demonstrates superior prediction of solar skin damage and CMM risk compared to retrospective questionnaire data.