Determination of sunburn and skin cancer risk of outpatients in a dermatology polyclinic.

ABSTRACT

Public health experts and medical professionals continue to issue warnings to people about the dangers of ultraviolet (UV) radiation fromthe sun, tanning beds, and sun lamps. Skin cancer is more common than any other type of cancer and exposure to sun is known to contribute to all three major types, namely, basal-cell carcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma and cutaneous melanoma. While skin cancer has been associated with sunburn, moderate tanning may also exert an influence. Seven steps to safer sunning are avoiding the sun, using a sunscreen, wearing a hat, wearing sunglasses, covering up, avoiding artificial tanning, and checking skin regularly. The present study was performed to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and risk factors of individuals concerning skin cancer. A descriptive survey was conducted among 475 patients randomly selected from the Dermatology Polyclinic of Ege University. A self-administered questionnaire was used to investigate their knowledge about skin cancer. A total of 297 female and 178 male participants were questioned, with a mean age of 32.48 +15.12. Some 36.8% had skin type II and 39.8% type III. The most common hair and eye color were brown, respectively at 56.0% and 58.7%. 79.8% had a mole(s), 19.2% had birthmark. A total of 8 of the 475 participants consulted for sunburns (1.7%). Glasses were the most popular preventive behaviour (28.8%). A total of 56 of the 475 outpatients questioned did not use any protective measure. Individuals need to be better educated on the dangers of the sun and sun protection as well as skin cancer.