Participants were also asked, "During the past month, have you sunbathed or travelled to a sunny climate or region?" and "During the past month, on average, how many hours per week did you spend outside without and with sun protection (sunscreen or protective clothing)?" Of the twelve questions, two were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to facilitate validation.
Use of sunscreen or protective clothing was not protective after controlling for confounders.
Use of higher sun-protection factor sunscreen was protective (P=0·01).
Protective behaviors, such as using sunscreen, wearing protective clothing, and avoiding midday sun reduce the risk of skin cancer and skin damage due to UV rays [ 1, 6, 7].
Reported use of higher sun-protection factor (SPF) sunscreen was protective for wrinkles (test for trend, P=0·01).
The target behaviour is "performing sun-protective behaviours (i.e., using SPF 30 + sunscreen, wearing protective clothing such as a hat, long-sleeved shirt and sunglasses, and seeking shade between 10 am and 3 pm) every time you go in the sun for more than 10 minutes during the next week" (Table 1).
Young and old alike will wear sunscreen and protective clothing when spending time in the sun.
If you spend a lot of time running outdoors, make sure you always, always, always wear sunscreen and protective clothing to shield yourself from the sun's rays.
Anything higher than 6 means it's definitely time to put on sunscreen or protective clothing with a high UPF rating.
At baseline and 2 years, participants reported the percentage of time they used sunscreen, wore protective clothing, avoided peak UVR exposure from 10 AM to 4 PM, and stayed in the shade in the past 6 months.
