title: Knowledge, understanding, and use of preventive strategies against nonmelanoma skin cancer in healthy and immunosuppressed individuals undergoing Mohs surgery.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Bichchau Thi
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Shang I Brian
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011481:Protective Clothing; D016353:Self-Examination; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000601:surgery*; D055108:Sunbathing / Q000293:injuries; D013473:Sunscreening Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D013473:Sunscreening Agents