Skin cancer comic book: evaluation of a public educational vehicle

A 16-page 4-color comic book was developed as part of a multimedia public education campaign designed to improve skin cancer knowledge and prevention/detection behavior. A concentrated comic book distribution to each of 8,000 households in a predominantly Caucasian area was preceded and followed by personal interviews with 300 residents randomly selected from this area. In households reading the comic book (N-122), respondents reported the following changes as a direct result of readership--avoidance of sun exposure between 10 am and 2 pm (44.3%), use of sunscreens with SPF 8 and over (38.5%), skin self-examination (34.4%), and use of protective clothing (29.5%). To a lesser extent nonreaders also showed positive increases, suggesting exposure to other educational efforts of the skin cancer campaign. Over 90% of the readers felt that the comic book was easy to read, easy to understand, and interesting. The comic book appealed less to males and to those above the age of 50 years.