SAN FRANCISCO – Vanity works better than fear in getting adolescents to use sunscreen, a small randomized study of 50 patients suggests.
Patients watched one of two educational videos promoting sunscreen use among adolescents. One video emphasized the premature photoaging effects of UV light on skin appearance. The other video focused on the relationship between UV light and skin cancer risk.
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Some young adults are concerned about the aesthetic risks associated with repeated UV exposure, said William Tuong and Dr. April Armstrong.
Six weeks later, sunscreen use had increased significantly in the appearance-video group, from a mean of 0.6 days/week before watching the video to 2.8 times/week at follow-up. Sunscreen use in the health-video group increased by a statistically insignificant amount, from 0.7 days/week at baseline to 0.9 days/week 6 weeks later, William Tuong and Dr. April W. Armstrong reported in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
The difference between groups was significant. The appearance-video groups added 2.2 days/week of sunscreen use while the health-video group added just 0.3 days/week, reported Mr. Tuong, a medical student at the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Armstrong, director of the clinical research unit and the teledermatology program in the university’s department of dermatology.
Skin cancer prevention studies usually employ health-based messaging, but perhaps that should change, they suggested.
The two groups were similar at baseline, with a mean age of 17 years, and females accounting for 19 of 25 (76%) patients in the appearance-video group and 21 of 25 (84%) patients in the health-video group. Hispanics were the largest ethnic group (10 and 13 patients, respectively), followed by "others" (6 and 7 patients, respectively), blacks (6 and 4 patients), and whites (3 and 1 patients in the two groups). Seventeen patients in the appearance-video group and 18 in the health-video group had Fitzpatrick Skin Types IV-VI, and the rest had Skin Types I-III.
The appearance video delivered messages such as, "Skin damage can show up as wrinkles, dark spots, uneven skin tone, sagging skin, and rough leathery skin." Patients learned that UVA light from the sun causes the skin damage that makes skin look older and "less attractive." The video asked, "You don’t want to look like your grandparents, right?" and warned, "When you go out in the sun without sunscreen, you’re causing your skin to age faster, which might make you look older than you really are."
The health video asked, "Did you know that having one bad sunburn in your life increases your chances of getting melanoma?" It explained that melanoma, the deadliest of skin cancers, can happen to anyone and is one of the most common cancers in young adults "like you." Even though it’s less common in blacks, it can happen and usually is deadly because it’s usually found too late, the video said. As melanoma "gets worse, it can spread to other organs in your body, like your liver, lungs, and brain. When it’s found too late, melanoma can kill you," the video added.
The study used standard questions on sun protective behaviors from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess sunscreen use.
The investigators reported having no financial disclosures.
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