Travellers to high UV-index countries: sun-exposure behaviour in 7822 French adults.

BACKGROUND

Travel health information includes warning on sun exposure, particularly for fair-skinned individuals travelling to tropical countries.

METHOD

A self-completed questionnaire on sun exposure behaviour was sent to the 12,741 French adults enrolled in the SU.VI.MAX cohort. Among the 7822 participants, 196 (110 women and 86 men) declared at least one visit to a high UV-index country over the past year for more than 1 month, subsequently referred to as long-term travellers. The remaining 7626 participants (non-travellers) accounted for 4862 women and 2764 men.

RESULTS

Women travellers declared more frequently skin exposure to the sun over the past year, practised tanning in high UV-index areas more than 2h daily, experienced intensive sun exposure than non-travellers. Moreover, they asserted that basking in the sun is very important. Comparable results were found in men. The use of sun protection products was similar in travellers and non-travellers, but women tended to use sunscreen products more often, more regularly and with a higher sun protection factor (SPF) than men.

CONCLUSIONS

Specific health education campaigns and pre-travel advice aiming to reduce sun exposure and to improve protective measures against ultraviolet (UV) radiation should be addressed to travellers to countries with high UV-index.