BACKGROUND: Despite various national recommendations advising individuals to reduce their exposure to ultraviolet radiation, many people still do not use these skin cancer prevention strategies. OBJECTIVES: To assess patient sources of medical information, knowledge of sun protection strategies, and barriers to implementing these strategies and to compare the overall rate of use of skin cancer prevention strategies of healthy and immunocompromised patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Survey-based study conducted on 140 individuals undergoing Mohs surgery. RESULTS: Seventy-three percent of healthy and 74% of immunosuppressed participants identified sunscreen use as a form of protective strategy, whereas 36% and 27%, respectively, used sunscreen daily. Participants cited physicians and the internet as equal sources of medical information. Knowing two or more strategies correlated to a higher self-rating of daily use of any protective strategy. CONCLUSION: General knowledge regarding sun protection strategies is limited, but awareness of multiple strategies correlated with greater sun protective behavior. Despite having a much higher incidence of skin cancers, the immunosuppressed group did not show more awareness of prevention strategies or higher use than healthy participants.
BACKGROUND: Despite various national recommendations advising individuals to reduce their exposure to ultraviolet radiation, many people still do not use these skin cancer prevention strategies. OBJECTIVES: To assess patient sources of medical information, knowledge of sun protection strategies, and barriers to implementing these strategies and to compare the overall rate of use of skin cancer prevention strategies of healthy and immunocompromised patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Survey-based study conducted on 140 individuals undergoing Mohs surgery. RESULTS: Seventy-three percent of healthy and 74% of immunosuppressed participants identified sunscreen use as a form of protective strategy, whereas 36% and 27%, respectively, used sunscreen daily. Participants cited physicians and the internet as equal sources of medical information. Knowing two or more strategies correlated to a higher self-rating of daily use of any protective strategy. CONCLUSION: General knowledge regarding sun protection strategies is limited, but awareness of multiple strategies correlated with greater sun protective behavior. Despite having a much higher incidence of skin cancers, the immunosuppressed group did not show more awareness of prevention strategies or higher use than healthy participants.
Authors: R Adamson; E Obispo; S Dychter; W Dembitsky; R Moreno-Cabral; B Jaski; J Gordon; P Hoagland; K Moore; J King; J Andrews; M Rich; P O Daily Journal: Transplant Proc Date: 1998-06 Impact factor: 1.066
Authors: P Jensen; S Hansen; B Møller; T Leivestad; P Pfeffer; O Geiran; P Fauchald; S Simonsen Journal: J Am Acad Dermatol Date: 1999-02 Impact factor: 11.527