The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64657

DeAnn Lazovich, PhD¹, Jean L. Forster, PhD¹, Andrea B. Hickle, MPH¹, Glorian C. Sorensen, PhD, MPH², Karen M. Emmons, PhD³, Jo Stryker, PhD⁴, Marie-France Demierre, MD², and Natania Remba, EdM². (1) Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second St., Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454-1015, 612-626-9099, lazovich@epi.umn.edu, (2) Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115-6096, (3) Center for Community-Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, (4) Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115

Two recent national surveys reported risk factors for adolescent indoor tanning, an increasingly popular behavior linked to skin cancer. We extended this research by examining risk factors for future indoor tanning among adolescent non-tanners (n= 889) and for continued indoor tanning among adolescent tanners (n=376). Adolescents, 14-17, were randomly identified from a purchased household list for a telephone survey in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston metropolitan areas (73.1% response, Boston; 87.8% response, Twin Cities). Questions included demographic and phenotypic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, social influences, use of indoor tanning and future intention to tan indoors. Among non-tanners, 22.4% planned to start tanning; among tanners, 77.2% planned to continue tanning. Non-tanners and tanners at risk for future indoor tanning were each significantly more likely to be female, less likely to use sun protection, less knowledgeable about skin cancer risks, more likely to agree that tans were attractive and were more strongly influenced by social factors (friends tan, parents allow tanning, percent of friends/adults who tan), compared to their low risk counterparts. Among non-tanners only, intention to start tanning decreased with age and was positively associated with smoking. Finally, a higher score on a scale measuring attitudes toward indoor tanning was associated with greater likelihood of continuing to tan among tanners (adj. OR=9.4; 95% CI 5.0, 17.7). Although limited due to its cross-sectional design, our data suggest that some non-tanning adolescents may be susceptible. In addition, interventions that target social influences may be important to discourage both initiation and continuation of the behavior.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the proportion of adolescents who are at risk of initiating indoor tanning among non-tanners and the proportion of adolescents who are at risk of continuing to tan indoors among tanners.
• Identify personal characteristics, knowledge, attitudes and social influences on the likelihood of initiating or continuing to tan indoors among adolescents
• Provide information to develop interventions to prevent initiation of indoor tanning among non-tanners or to help tanners discontinue the practice.

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Health Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.