Geographical location and sunburn in Queensland adults

Abstract

The rate of melanoma diagnosis in Queensland is higher than than in any other geographical location in the world. 1 In turn, geographical areas outside of major metropolitan regions in Australia have an increased number of excess deaths as a result of melanoma compared with metropolitan areas. 2 The higher number of excess deaths (difference in actual deaths in an area/ number of deaths in metropolitan areas) caused by melanoma in non-metropolitan areas 2 may be the result of these populations being exposed to higher concentrations of excess sunlight, a known cause of skin cancer. An acutely observable outcome of excess sunlight exposure is sunburn, which is a risk factor for skin cancer development and frequent burning of the skin is a risk factor for the development of basal cell carcinoma. 3 The current study aims to examine differences in the incidence of sunburn by geographical location, and also the likelihood of sunburn by geographical location. Participants, Methods and ResultsParticipants were a sample of Queensland adults (n = 1214) who took part in a computer-assistedtelephone-interview survey conducted in July-August 2006 by the Population Research Laboratory at Central Queensland University. Eligible participants were those aged over 18, who were able to be contacted by directdialled land-based telephone. The overall response rate was 44.4% and the survey was approved by Central Queensland University's Human Research Ethics Committee.Participants provided basic demographic information and the geographical location of respondents was determined using the Regional, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification. The original seven RRMA classifications were collapsed into Metropolitan (Capital cities, other [non-capital] metropolitan centres) and nonmetropolitan (large rural centres, small rural centres, other rural areas, remote centres, other remote areas).Occurrence and frequency of overexposure to UV radiation in the 12 months prior to survey were assessed by self-reported sunburn, which was defined as having even a small part of the skin turning red for more than twelve hours. Respondents reporting three or more sunburns during the previous year were categorised as reporting multiple sunburns. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between self-reported sunburn and geographical location.Results indicate that 32.8% of all respondents were sunburnt once with 17% reporting multiple sunburns in the preceding year. People living in non-metropolitan areas were more likely to be sunburnt once compared with people living in metropolitan areas (Table 1). Women were significantly less likely to be sunburnt single and multiple times when compared with men. CommentPeople living in non-metropolitan areas were significantly more likely to report sunburn than those in metropolitan areas. This finding provides information on acute overexposure to sunlight between geographical locations, however, is unable to provide data on chronic exposure to sunlight which maybe useful in understanding geogr...

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