The Association of Skin Cancer Prevention Knowledge, Sun-Protective Attitudes, and Sun-Protective Behaviors in a Navy Population

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction U.S. Navy service members are primarily between the ages of 18 and 30 years and often required to be outside for extended periods of time in geographical locations with increased and often unfamiliar ultraviolet indexes that collectively increase their risk for skin cancer. Skin cancer is the country’s most common form of cancer, yet there is a paucity of skin cancer prevention literature, especially within the U.S. Navy. The purpose of this study was to describe skin cancer risk and skin cancer prevention “cues-to-action” and to determine if skin cancer prevention knowledge was associated with sun-protective attitudes (e.g., prevention perceptions, benefits, threats, barriers, and sun-protective behavior self-efficacy) and sun-protective behaviors (e.g., wearing long sleeve shirts and using sunscreen and not deliberately exposing skin for a tan) in a Navy population. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational design was utilized, and the study approval was obtained by the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Institutional Review Board. Two-hundred twenty-nine active duty Navy service members aged 18-30 years who presented to primary care for their periodic health assessment completed the Brief Skin Cancer Risk Assessment and the Skin Cancer Survey. Descriptive statistics were utilized to assess service members’ perceptions and knowledge regarding skin cancer prevention along with sociodemographic characteristics. The Spearman rank-order correlation and the Mann–Whitney U test were used to assess associations. P-values <.05 were used to determine statistical significance. Results Skin cancer prevention knowledge was significantly related to sun-protective behavior self-efficacy (r = 0.218, P = .001), benefits (r = 0.271, P ≤ .001), sun protection behaviors (r = 0.152, P = .024), skin cancer risk (r = 0.256, P = .001), current frequency of high-risk sun behavior (r = 0.183, P = .006), past frequency of high-risk sun behavior (r = 0.219, P = .001), sun exposure (U = 4,813.50, P = .005), tanning bed use (U = 3,154.50, P = .031), and training (U = 4,099.50, P = .005). Conclusions Integrating skin cancer education into primary care visits (i.e., periodic health assessments) may improve Navy service members’ modifiable sun-protective attitudes and behaviors and may contribute to lowering future skin cancer rates.