Effects of web-based intervention on risk reduction behaviors in melanoma survivors

Abstract

Purpose-Melanoma is the most severe form of skin cancer, and survivors of melanoma carry increased risk of additional melanoma diagnosis. Multiple methods exist for primary and secondary prevention of melanoma in survivors. This study tested a web-based family communication intervention to improve these preventive behaviors in melanoma families.Methods-Families (a survivor, at least one first-degree relative and a parent) were randomized either to receive the intervention package or to serve as comparison families. We assessed melanoma prevention behaviors in each cohort member before and after the intervention. The intervention was a web-based multicomponent intervention focused on increasing family communication and exchange of risk information. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014Correspondence to: Deborah J. Bowen, dbowen@uw.edu. Conflict of interest Authors Bowen, Burke, Hay, Meischke, and Harris declare that they have no conflicts of interest.Informed consent "All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study." HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptResults-Results indicated that, compared to comparison survivors, intervention survivors improved their skin self-examination and their sun protection behaviors significantly from before to after intervention.Conclusion-These data support the use of web-based interventions for behavioral changes in survivors and allow for consideration of dissemination of this successful intervention. These data have implications for interventions that can help cancer families deal with issues of risk and illness.Implications for cancer survivors-These data indicate that survivors can benefit from exposure to a website that helps direct their future health behaviors.

All in the family? Communication of cancer survivors with their families

“…Best practices for communication of genetic test results may also depend on cultural or social context. For example, studies have found that uptake of BRCA1/2 tests to identify inherited risk for breast/ovarian cancer was lower among AA compared to EA (19,20). At present, the process of communicating genetic risk from probands to family members, its dynamics, and differences across cultures have not been studied.…”

Communication Among Melanoma Family Members

“…Enrolled family members completed a follow-up survey one year later, and then the comparison families received access to the study website. Previously published papers presented the baseline data for survivors and FDRs (Bowen, Hay, Mayer, et al, 2012) A manuscript under review has presented the positive effects of the intervention on survivor sun protection behaviors and skin examination (Bowen, Hay, Burke et al, 2014). …”

“…All family members were provided with multiple links to the study website designed specifically for melanoma survivors and their family members, described more fully in the main outcome paper for survivors (Bowen et al, 2014). The website consisted of a home page, with constantly changing messages about prevention, similar to our breast cancer interventions (Bowen et al, 1998; Bowen, DJ, Christensen, CL, Powers, Graves, & Anderson, 1999 Bowen, Powers, and Greenlee, 2004).…”

“…Participants in the study were cued to use the website sections on communication, like other sections, by email and home page messages. The website is described in detail in a previous paper (Bowen, Burke, Hay, et al, 2014)…”

Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure and Its Impact on Skin Cancer Risk

“…98 A Web-based intervention aimed at melanoma survivors demonstrated improved sun protection behaviors. 99 An intervention to increase sun protection targeted specifically to children of melanoma survivors was shown to increase participants’ use of hats and reapplication of sunscreen, although a reduction in sunburns was not observed. 100 …”