Sunburns and Sun-Protective Behaviors after a Diagnosis of Melanoma

Exposure to ultraviolet light is a recognized modifiable risk factor for melanoma. Melanoma patients were more likely to practice sun-protective behaviors after their diagnosis. But it is not known how long these sun-protective behaviors will sustain. We aim to evaluate if sun-protective behaviors and likelihood of recent sunburn differ according to time elapsed since the melanoma diagnosis using the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. Data in the NHANES cycle years 2003-2006 and 2010-2012 were analyzed. The relationship of sun-protective behaviors and likelihood of sunburns with the time since a melanoma diagnosis was evaluated and also adjusted for possible confounding factors such as age, gender, and skin reaction to the sun. A total of 34 participants with previous melanoma provided responses to their current sun-protective behaviors and recent occurrence of sunburns. The control group consisted of 13,871 participants who never had any diagnoses of malignancies. The control and the non-recent diagnosis groups were more likely to have sunburns but less likely to engage in consistent sun-protective behaviors compared to the recent diagnosis group. A multivariate regression model showed a 1.17 increased odds of having a recent sunburn for each additional year elapsed since a melanoma diagnosis ( p = 0.046). In our study, those with a melanoma diagnosis in the non-recent past were more likely to have sunburns and less likely to sun protect. More can definitely be done to educate and cultivate sun-protective behaviors among the U.S. population.