Demographic Analysis of the Sun Protective Behaviours and Skin Cancer Risk of Victorian Farmers

Farmers have an elevated risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer due to their occupational exposure to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. The sun protective behaviours of farmers are poorly understood, limiting targeted interventions to this at-risk population.

This study aimed to characterise sun protective behaviours among Victorian farmers and to assess whether demographic factors were associated with variations in sun protection uptake.

A cross-sectional study of 124 Victorian farmers was completed using Health and Lifestyle Assessment data collected by the National Centre for Farmer Health. Associations between sun protective behaviours (sunscreen, sunglasses, long sleeve shirt, long trousers, broad brim hat) and demographic factors (gender, age group, rurality) were investigated with descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression.

Age group was significantly associated with sunscreen use (p = 0.035). Participants aged 65 years and over were most likely to never use sunscreen, while those aged 50-64 years were most likely to always use it. No significant associations were found between gender or rurality and any sun protective behaviour. Overall, use of sun protection was suboptimal across all demographic groups.

These findings suggest that Victorian farmers over 65 years of age may benefit from targeted public health messaging and education from primary care physicians and dermatologists. Further research is required to validate these results given the small sample size. A focus group of at-risk farmers as identified in this study may be valuable to identify interventions that could increase the sun protective behaviours of Australian farmers.