Trained interviewers
Skin cancer has long been recognized as a public health problem for populations living in the Southern Hemisphere and recently appears to be emerging as an important health issue among people living in Canada.1 Cumulative exposure to sunlight seems necessary for the development of squamous cell carcinoma, while sunburns received as a result of excessive sun exposure during childhood appear to be more important in the development of melanoma and basal cell carcinoma.2-5 Much of lifetime sun exposure occurs during childhood and 6,7 45% of children living in Canada receive at least one sunburn per summer.8 Preventing sunburn is becoming an important component of public health cufflinks clearance strategies concerned with lowering the risk of developing skin cancer later in life.3,4,9,10 This paper describes results of in-person interviews conducted with parents and observations of parents and their children, ages 5-12 years, at freshwater beaches in BC’s Southern Interior.
Outcomes include: 1) parents’ self-reported use of sunscreen, 2) parent-proxy reports of children’s sunscreen use, and 3) observations of parents’ and children’s use of shade, hats and protective clothing. Data collection took place at freshwater beaches over a seven-day period, between the hours of 12 pm and 5 pm, during August 1999. Parents and legal guardians, part-time (15+ hours of care per week) or full-time tiffany pendants on sale were eligible to participate in the study. More than 95% of children were in the care of their parents at the time of the observations and interviews.
Trained interviewers (n=4) approached all adults who were accompanied by children at each beach and completed semistructured interviews with 94 eligible parents. Interview questions included nine items that asked parents to report on their own sun protection tiffany jewellery, nine items to assess their children’s sun protection behaviour, and socio-demographic characteristics. Interviewers recorded SPF from sunscreen bottle(s), where possible. Interviewers also observed parents and children to record information on the following: 1) use of shade, 2) wearing a hat, and 3) wearing protective clothing, using a modified version of the Beach Scan Observation Checklist and Protocol.12