Dodds M, et al. - Among adults in the US, researchers evaluated the demographic features and skin cancer risk behaviors of sunless tanners. They noted a correlation of sunless tanning with risky skin cancer-related behaviors.

Methods

• Experts conducted a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study using data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey, a population-based survey of the US noninstitutionalized civilian population.
• The participants included in this study were 27,353 men and women 18 years or older.
• Main outcome and measures included the participant demographics and skin cancer risk behaviors, including indoor tanning, skin cancer screening, sunburn, and sun protection behaviors.

Results

• As per data, out of the 27,353 adults (representative of more than 198 million US adults; mean [SE] age, 46.0 [0.2] years), 6.4% (SE, 0.2%) reported sunless tanning.
• Being young, female, non-Hispanic white, college educated, nonobese, sun sensitive, living in the western United States, and having a family history of skin cancer were the factors associated with sunless tanning.
• They noted a greater likeliness of sunless tanners to report indoor tanning (adjusted prevalence odds ratio [aPOR], 3.77; 95% CI, 3.19-4.43;P < .001), recent sunburn (aPOR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.31-1.83;P < .001), use of sunscreen (β=0.19; 95% CI, 0.09-0.28;P < .001), and having had a full-body skin examination (aPOR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.51-2.08;P < .001) but less likely to seek shade (β=-0.12; 95% CI, -0.19 to -0.04;P=.001) or use protective clothing when outdoors (long pants: β=-0.18; 95% CI, -0.26 to -0.11;P < .001; long sleeves: β=-0.10; 95% CI, -0.18 to -0.03;P=.01).
• Among indoor tanners, increased frequency of indoor tanning (mean [SE], 19.2 [1.9] vs 14.9 [1.2] sessions in the past 12 months; P=.04) was reported in sunless tanners vs those who did not sunless tan, but no differences in other skin cancer risk behaviors were seen.