History of melanoma, actinic skin lesions linked to better use of sun protection

Source: www.healio.com/dermatology, July 2015

A recent population-based study has revealed that people with a previously confirmed melanoma diagnosis and/or treated actinic lesions were more likely to regularly use sun protection and skin exam practices, according to a recent study.

“People with a treatment history for actinic lesions and those with high-risk phenotypes were more likely to engage in both sun protection and skin exam practices than those without these, suggesting that they are receptive to primary and secondary prevention messages,” Catherine M. Olsen, PhD, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Dermatology.

Olsen and colleagues performed a cross-sectional analysis of 40,172 Australians in the QSkin Sun and Health Study. The researchers examined the participants’ use of sunscreen and use of hats when outdoors, and how often they performed skin exams within the past 3 years.

They found that 53.3% of participants with a melanoma history and 45.1% of participants with a history of actinic lesions regularly used sunscreen compared with 38.1% of participants without melanoma or lesions. Among participants with melanoma, 74.7% reported wearing a hat outdoors compared with 68.2% of participants with treated actinic lesions and 58.2% of participants with neither.

Regarding skin exams, 93.7% of participants with melanoma had a doctor examine their skin within the past 3 years, compared with 83.4% of patients with actinic lesions and 52.1% of participants with neither.

Overall, participants with melanoma and who had treated actinic lesions were older than participants without melanoma or treated lesions. – by Jeff Craven