Cancer Control Research
1R03CA078186-01
Glasser, Alice J.
CALIFORNIA SUN SENSE PROJECT
AbstractDESCRIPTION (Applicant's Description) The California Sun Sense Project: A
Skin Cancer Control Study is proposed to address the growing epidemic of
skin cancer. Its long term goal is to reduce the incidence of all skin
cancers, and consequently cause a reduction in morbidity and mortality
related to these tumors. The importance of this goal is supported by the
almost one million new cases of skin cancer that will be diagnosed in the
coming year, and by the incidence rate of malignant melanoma which is
increasing at a rate exceeding all other cancers. The specific aim of the
proposed pilot is to reduce children's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet
rays, the number one risk factor for the development of skin cancer.
Targeting of children is important because more than 80 percent of all
ultraviolet light exposure occurs before the age of 18 and preventive
behaviors learned during the early years are less resistant to change. The
pilot will seek to accomplish this by evaluating the effectiveness of an
educational intervention aimed at child/parent pairs from the UCLA Pediatric
Clinic and then randomize them to either intervention or usual care groups.
Both groups will receive a pre-intervention questionnaire, but only the
intervention sample will be exposed to a video on skin cancer sun/protective
behavior, a brochure, a shirt/hat and a sunscreen sample. A follow-up phone
questionnaire will be conducted to both groups early fall in order to
measure the effectiveness of the intervention on increased subject adherence
to healthy behavioral choices regarding sun exposure. Finally, the
feasibility of expanding this pilot project with the aim of delivering sun
cancer prevention to larger segments of the population will be evaluated.
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