Although cosmetic tanning and unprotected solar exposure are common, little is known about general attitudes, beliefs and behaviour regarding the use of sunbeds. We sought to determine the frequency of sunbeds use in a select sample and to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding this behaviour. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 648 employees work for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust. The questionnaire explored demographic information (including hair and skin type, family history with skin cancer), frequency of sunbeds use, knowledge about the risks of UV exposure and motivations for practising this behaviour. Four hundred and eighteen women and 52 men completed the questionnaire, making a response rate of 73%. Nearly half of respondents (207; 44%) reported using sunbeds to some extent; of those 12% reported frequent use. Appearance ('to look better') was the most popular reason given by respondents for using sunbeds, followed by 'feel healthy'. Frequency of using sunbeds was found to be negatively correlated with the age of respondents and the existence of family experience with skin cancer, and strongly associated with the opinion that it is safer to use a sunbed than subathing outdoors, the female sex and smoking. It is clear from this study that the psychological factors that influence sunbeds use are complex and that so far public education campaigns have had little impact on it. This study highlights some of these psychological factors.

Head and neck cancers are a significant and worsening health problem in the UK. In the absence of screening, minimising diagnostic delay after the onset of symptoms improves prognosis. Delay, from the patient's initial experience of symptoms to the ultimate diagnosis, consists of two elements--the delay prior to presenting to a clinician plus that due to the health professional consulted. This study aimed to establish the period of delay between recognition of the initial tumour symptoms and the formal diagnosis among a sample of patients recently diagnosed with head and neck cancer. Using a semistructured questionnaire, 133 men and 55 women were interviewed by a research nurse, and the results were related to the clinical findings. Tumour size at diagnosis was classified according to T1 (22%), T2 (29%), T3 (27%) and T4 (22%). Of the 186 patients with complete hospital records, 48 (26%) were diagnosed with cancer of the lip and oral cavity (CLOC). From the onset of symptoms to the patients' initial decision to seek professional advice, the median period was 4 weeks among those with CLOC and 3 weeks for those with other head and neck cancers (OHNC). The distribution was highly skewed with delays beyond 6 months occurring among 9% of the OHNC group, compared with 3% of CLOC. From the onset of symptoms to a consultant appointment, the median delay was 8 weeks for OHNC, but 12 weeks for CLOC, with delays beyond 6 months of 13% in each group, respectively. First symptoms included 'change in voice' (26%), 'pain' (27%), 'lump' or 'growth' (12%) as well as dysphagia, 'infection', 'sore throat', 'ulcers' or 'abscess'. No significant association was found between the nature of the first symptoms and the urgency with which patients interpreted their symptoms, nor was this related to diagnostic delay, sex, age or social class. It is concluded that there is substantial variation in time to clinical presentation, particularly for OHNC, although professional delay for the majority of these cases was minimal. For patients with CLOC there was less variation in patient delay, but clinician delay was relatively longer.

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AIM:To compare the effectiveness of triple, standard quadruple and ampicillin-sulbactam-based quadruple therapies for H pylori eradication in a comparative threearmed randomized clinical trial. METHODS:A total of 360 H pylori -positive patients suffering from dyspepsia and aging 24-79 years with a median age of 42 years were enrolled in the study and randomly allocated into the following three groups: group A (n = 120) received a standard 1-wk triple therapy ( Chi-square test with the consideration of P < 0.05 as significant was used to compare the eradication rates by intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses in the three groups. RESULTS:The per-protocol eradication rate was 91.81% (101 patients from a total of 110) in group A, 85.84% (97 patients from a total of 113) in group B, and 92.85% (104 patients from a total of 112) in group C. The intentionto-treat eradication rate was 84.17% in group A, 80.83% in group B, and 86.67% in group C. The new protocol yielded the highest eradication rates by both per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses followed by the standard triple and quadruple regimens, respectively. However, the differences were not statistically significant between the three groups. CONCLUSION:The results of this study provide further support for the equivalence of triple and quadruple therapies in terms of effectiveness, compliance and sideeffect profile when administered as first-line treatment for H pylori infection. Moreover, the new protocol using ampicillin-sulbactam instead of amoxicillin in the quadruple regimen is a suitable first-line alternative to be