The untold story of the scorching sun—A wake up call for sun protection

Who Are the Nonusers of Sunscreen, and What Are Their Reasons? Development of a New Item Set

Sunscreen use is an important aspect of sun protective behavior. Previous studies revealed deficits in sunscreen use. Our aim was to quantify sunscreen use in a nationwide representative study in Germany as well as to develop and test an item battery on reasons for none use of sunscreen. We analyzed data of the National Cancer Aid Monitoring (NCAM; wave 4; n = 3000, aged 14-45). To describe those who only use sunscreen rarely or never, we used chi² statistics and logistic regression analysis. In addition, we utilized a newly developed item battery on barriers to sunscreen use. Here, we used Cronbach's alpha to investigate reliability. In total, 20.7% reported using sunscreen rarely or never. Infrequent or none use of sunscreen was associated with male sex, immigrant background, none or rare sunbathing in summer, and current or past use of sunbeds. Participants with higher skin cancer risk (e.g., pale skin) were less likely to use sunscreen infrequently or never. The major reasons for not using sunscreen were inconvenience and no perceived need for applying sunscreen. Overall, internal consistency of the item battery on potential barriers to sunscreen use was very good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.865). We found deficits in sunscreen use especially in sunbed users, men, and individuals with immigrant background. Our results give important implications for future prevention and health promotion campaigns on sunscreen use.

Does sunscreen use comply with official recommendations? Results of a nationwide survey in Germany

BACKGROUND

The use of sunscreen can reduce the risk of UV-induced skin lesions. Health authorities have provided recommendations for the correct use of sunscreen use: Sufficient amount of sunscreen should be applied at least 30 min before the sun exposure and should be reapplied every 2 h.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to research the practice of sunscreen use in a population-based and representative sample in Germany.

METHODS

For this cross-sectional survey, 3000 German residents aged 14-45 years were surveyed in standardized telephone interviews in 2018. Survey participants provided data on the frequency of sunscreen use in summer, timing of (re-)application and their skin characteristics. The data were weighted by age, sex, educational level and federal state to ensure the national representativeness of the sample.

RESULTS

Overall, 79.4% of respondents used sunscreen always, often or sometimes when being exposed to the sun. However, 87.2% of sunscreen users did not follow the recommendations on timing of application, 59.5% did not comply with the timing of reapplication. We also saw, that people potentially used too little sunscreen. These data did not differ noticeably by skin types of participants.

CONCLUSION

Our study revealed deficits in use of sunscreen in Germany, indicating that people here pay little attention to the recommendations of health authorities, regardless of their skin type. There is therefore an urgent need for targeted public information on this issue. Improving public knowledge on correct sunscreen use through educational campaigns or individual counselling by health professionals could be a first step.