DENVER Less than 12% of women and less than 7% of men who tan indoors are regular users of sunscreen, according to a national survey of white adults.
Overall, women who use tanning parlors have a better understanding of the associated risks than men who do so.
Of women who tan indoors, 38% are aware that the practice increases their skin cancer risk, compared with only 11% of men who tan indoors, Kelvin Choi reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Similarly, 27% of women who tan indoors perceive themselves as being at high risk of skin cancer, and another 17% see themselves as at moderate risk. In contrast, only 3% of men who tan indoors see themselves as at high risk, and 4% perceive themselves as at moderate risk for skin cancer, according to Mr. Choi of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Most studies on indoor tanning practices have focused on adolescents and young adult women.
Addressing this limitation, Mr. Choi and his coinvestigators analyzed data from the National Cancer Institute 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey.
The investigators zeroed in on the knowledge and attitudes regarding skin cancer prevention among a randomly selected subset that included 2,869 white men and women aged 1864 years.
Overall, 18% of the women and 6% of men reported tanning indoors within the prior year.
Indoor tanning was most popular in the Midwest; women living there were 2.5 times more likely to use tanning beds than those in the West, where the use was least frequent. Midwestern men were 2.9-fold more likely to tan indoors than Westerners.
Both women and men who tan indoors tended to be younger. In the peak age category for indoor tanningthe 18- to 24-year-olds36% of women and 12% of men reported having used a tanning parlor in the past year. Individuals with at least some college education and who earned more than $35,000 annually were more likely to tan indoors, according to Mr. Choi.
Men who lived in a metropolitan area were 3.3-fold more likely to tan indoors than those living elsewhere. In contrast, women were equally likely to tan indoors regardless of whether they were urbanites or not.
The use of spray tanning products was closely linked to the use of tanning beds. Men who used these products were 7.5-fold more likely to have used a tanning bed in the past year than those who didn't use them.
Women who used spray tanning products were 2.6-fold more likely to have used a tanning bed in the past year, Mr. Choi noted.
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