Skin cancer prevention by parents of young children: health information sources, skin cancer knowledge, and sun-protection practices.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To describe and evaluate parents' skin cancer prevention knowledge, sun-protection practices for themselves and their children, and use of health information sources.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

A medium-sized (population 700,000) metropolitan area in the southwestern United States.

SAMPLE

205 adults, ages 19-56, with children under age 13. Fifty-three percent of the subjects were female, 72% were Caucasian, 22% were Hispanic, 69% were educated beyond high school, and 80% were married.

METHODS

Adults were recruited from the county's randomly selected Superior Court jury pool. Jurors were approached by a researcher and asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES

Parents' levels of sun-protection practices for themselves and their children, skin cancer knowledge, and skin sensitivity to sun; amount of health information parents received from healthcare providers, family and friends, schools, employers, and the media; and parents' perceptions of the information's accuracy, utility, and comprehensibility.

FINDINGS

Parents are more likely to practice skin cancer prevention for their children than themselves. Parents' own protection is positively related to protection for children. Parents who were knowledgeable about skin cancer prevention received the most information from healthcare providers and family and friends. Parents who more frequently received information from healthcare providers practiced more prevention strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents need to improve their practices of protecting their children from the sun, particularly by limiting their sun exposure and having them wear protective clothing.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Nurses in schools, work sites, and healthcare organizations should be active in skin cancer prevention. Nurses can teach parents that children are at risk, encourage parents to teach children to protect themselves, and address barriers to prevention.