UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and prevention initiatives have been implemented by State Cancer Councils and health departments for over two decades. Although national data on skin cancer rates are regularly collected, there was a substantial gap in data on Australians' sun-related attitudes and behaviours, and sunburn incidence for planning and evaluation purposes.

Methods: In summer 2003-2004 the first national sun protection survey was conducted in Australia. We concurrently interviewed adolescents, aged 11 to 17 (N=699), and adults, 18 to 69 years (N=5073), by telephone on Monday and Tuesday evenings about their outdoor activities, sun exposure, sun protection and sunburn on the previous weekend. Respondents' tanning preferences and other sun-related attitudes were also monitored. The approach ensured direct comparability in adolescents' and adults' prevention profiles. The focus on behaviours for a specific recent period minimised recall bias and allowed statistical adjustment for varying weather conditions and UVR levels over the different weekends in different parts of Australia.

Results: Our analyses found distinctly lower compliance with sun protection messages among adolescents compared with adults. While adults' sun protection behaviours were less than optimal, significantly fewer adolescents reported wearing headwear, protective tops or leg-cover, sunglasses or used shade on the summer weekends. Moreover, the majority of adolescents reported they liked to get a suntan and adolescents were 1.6 times more likely to be sunburnt compared with adults (25% compared with 18% sunburnt respectively). This data highlights need for further intervention with both adolescents and adults.