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Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study

BACKGROUND: Australia and New Zealand have the highest skin cancer incidence rates worldwide, and sun exposure is the main risk factor for developing skin cancer. Sun exposure during childhood and adolescence is a critical factor in developing skin cancer later in life. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to...

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Autores principales: Horsham, Caitlin, Antrobus, Jodie, Olsen, Catherine M, Ford, Helen, Abernethy, David, Hacker, Elke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7531871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32936083
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/21243
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author Horsham, Caitlin
Antrobus, Jodie
Olsen, Catherine M
Ford, Helen
Abernethy, David
Hacker, Elke
author_facet Horsham, Caitlin
Antrobus, Jodie
Olsen, Catherine M
Ford, Helen
Abernethy, David
Hacker, Elke
author_sort Horsham, Caitlin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Australia and New Zealand have the highest skin cancer incidence rates worldwide, and sun exposure is the main risk factor for developing skin cancer. Sun exposure during childhood and adolescence is a critical factor in developing skin cancer later in life. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to test the effectiveness of wearable UV sensors to increase sun protection habits (SPH) and prevent sunburn in adolescents. METHODS: During the weeklong school leavers outdoor festival (November 2019) at the Gold Coast, Australia, registered attendees aged 15-19 years were recruited into the field study. Participants were provided with a wearable UV sensor and free sunscreen. The primary outcome was sun exposure practices using the SPH index. Secondary outcomes were self-reported sunburns, sunscreen use, and satisfaction with the wearable UV sensor. RESULTS: A total of 663 participants were enrolled in the study, and complete data were available for 188 participants (188/663, 28.4% response rate). Participants provided with a wearable UV sensor significantly improved their use of sunglasses (P=.004) and sunscreen use both on the face (P<.001) and on other parts of the body (P=.005). However, the use of long-sleeve shirts (P<.001) and the use of a hat (P<.001) decreased. During the study period, 31.4% (59/188) of the participants reported receiving one or more sunburns. Satisfaction with the wearable UV sensor was high, with 73.4% (138/188) of participants reporting the UV sensor was helpful to remind them to use sun protection. CONCLUSIONS: Devices that target health behaviors when outdoors, such as wearable UV sensors, may improve use of sunscreen and sunglasses in adolescents.
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spelling pubmed-75318712020-10-16 Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study Horsham, Caitlin Antrobus, Jodie Olsen, Catherine M Ford, Helen Abernethy, David Hacker, Elke JMIR Mhealth Uhealth Original Paper BACKGROUND: Australia and New Zealand have the highest skin cancer incidence rates worldwide, and sun exposure is the main risk factor for developing skin cancer. Sun exposure during childhood and adolescence is a critical factor in developing skin cancer later in life. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to test the effectiveness of wearable UV sensors to increase sun protection habits (SPH) and prevent sunburn in adolescents. METHODS: During the weeklong school leavers outdoor festival (November 2019) at the Gold Coast, Australia, registered attendees aged 15-19 years were recruited into the field study. Participants were provided with a wearable UV sensor and free sunscreen. The primary outcome was sun exposure practices using the SPH index. Secondary outcomes were self-reported sunburns, sunscreen use, and satisfaction with the wearable UV sensor. RESULTS: A total of 663 participants were enrolled in the study, and complete data were available for 188 participants (188/663, 28.4% response rate). Participants provided with a wearable UV sensor significantly improved their use of sunglasses (P=.004) and sunscreen use both on the face (P<.001) and on other parts of the body (P=.005). However, the use of long-sleeve shirts (P<.001) and the use of a hat (P<.001) decreased. During the study period, 31.4% (59/188) of the participants reported receiving one or more sunburns. Satisfaction with the wearable UV sensor was high, with 73.4% (138/188) of participants reporting the UV sensor was helpful to remind them to use sun protection. CONCLUSIONS: Devices that target health behaviors when outdoors, such as wearable UV sensors, may improve use of sunscreen and sunglasses in adolescents. JMIR Publications 2020-09-16 /pmc/articles/PMC7531871/ /pubmed/32936083 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/21243 Text en ©Caitlin Horsham, Jodie Antrobus, Catherine M Olsen, Helen Ford, David Abernethy, Elke Hacker. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 16.09.2020. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Horsham, Caitlin
Antrobus, Jodie
Olsen, Catherine M
Ford, Helen
Abernethy, David
Hacker, Elke
Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title_full Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title_fullStr Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title_full_unstemmed Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title_short Testing Wearable UV Sensors to Improve Sun Protection in Young Adults at an Outdoor Festival: Field Study
title_sort testing wearable uv sensors to improve sun protection in young adults at an outdoor festival: field study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7531871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32936083
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/21243
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