Attitudes of teenagers toward sun exposure and sunscreen use.
A survey of 220 adolescents attending a multiphysician pediatric office in Virginia was conducted to determine the frequency with which they used sunscreens. Eighty-one percent of the teenagers in the study stated that they spent most weekends in the sun; however, only 9% always used sunscreen, while 33% never did. Factors found to be associated with increased sunscreen use included female sex (odds ratio = 4.5, P less than .0001), having a best friend who routinely used sunscreen (odds ratio = 3.0, P less than .001), having parents who insisted on sunscreen use when the teenagers were children (odds ratio = 3.0, P = .006), and knowing that the maximum time for safe exposure to the sun is short (odds ratio = 6.2, P less than .0001). Adolescents with a history of skin cancer in the family were not more likely to use sunscreens than other teenagers. Thirty-three percent of the girls and 16% of the boys older than 15 years of age reported that they had visited a tanning salon at least once. This survey substantiates poor compliance with sunscreen use by teenagers despite increasing evidence of the dangers of excessive sun exposure.
Banks
B A
BA
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
Silverman
R A
RA
Schwartz
R H
RH
Tunnessen
W W
WW
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012737:Sex Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D013471:Sunburn / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013473:Sunscreening Agents
D013473:Sunscreening Agents