title: Skin cancer prevention and early detection intentions and behavior.
abstract: This longitudinal study examined predictors of (1) skin cancer prevention and early detection intentions and (2) compliance with recommendation for medical follow-up for suspicious skin lesions. Subjects were 324 hospital employees who were at increased risk for skin cancer and who participated in a worksite skin cancer screening program. Based on behavioral self-regulation theory and the Health Belief Model, multivariate analyses showed that optimism, perceived risk, reasons for doing skin self-examination (SSE), and SSE frequency prior to screening were the best predictors of intentions to engage in future health promotion behaviors (i.e., monthly SSE, regular sunscreen use, and participation in a skin cancer screening program the following year). Although our results also showed that optimism, reasons for doing SSE, and SSE frequency were the best predictors of compliance with medical follow-up, these three variables accounted for only a small amount of the variance in compliance with recommended follow-up care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016353:Self-Examination; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013473:Sunscreening Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013781:Texas
chemical_list: D013473:Sunscreening Agents