ASPO Abstracts
Association of Sun Safety Behaviors and Barriers with Sunburn History in College Students
Category: Behavioral Science & Health Communication
Conference Year: 2023
Abstract Body:
Purpose: Over five million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States with melanoma being the third most common cancer in young adults. While avoiding excess ultraviolet exposure and sunburns in early adulthood can significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer later in life, the use of sun protection in this group remains low. Methods: In Fall 2019, an online survey of undergraduate students living on campus at a large southwestern university was conducted to determine the frequency of recent sunburns (defined as self-reported number of sunburns in the past three months) as well as sun protective behaviors, tanning activities, and perceived knowledge of and barriers to sun protection. Results from five Likert scale questions were averaged to generate individual behavior and barrier scores, while three questions were included in perceived knowledge score, and two questions in tanning activities score. Associations for individual questions and summary scores with self-reported recent sunburn, adjusted for skin sensitivity, were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: Over 46% of 458 students reported at least one sunburn in the past three months and 21% reported having multiple sunburns in that period. Furthermore, 53% reported that they intentionally tanned their skin outdoors occasionally or more frequently, while 6.4% reported using an indoor tanning bed occasionally or more. Recent sunburn history was associated with higher tanning activity scores (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR)=1.33, p<0.01) and with a high agreement with the specific question that tanning was attractive (aOR=1.36, p<0.01). Scores for sun protection, barriers, and perceived knowledge were not associated with recent sunburn history. However, recent sunburn history was associated with sun protection in females. Conclusion: History of recent sunburns remains high among these college students. Sunburns are associated with high use of tanning activities and agreement that tanning is attractive. This information can inform targeted intervention programming on the university campus.
Keywords: Behavior change; Risk factors; Skin cancer; Cancer prevention