Volume 54, Issue 5 , Pages 918-919, May 2006
Hat-wearing patterns in persons attending baseball games
Article Outline
To the Editor: People who attend daytime baseball games may receive several minimal erythema doses of UV light exposure. The average baseball game lasts 2 hours and 46 minutes.1 When factoring in pregame time, spectators may receive more than 4 hours of sun exposure. Sunscreen alone may not provide sufficient protection.
There is very sparse literature on sun-protection habits of fans attending sporting events.2 The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of persons attending a baseball game who wear a head covering and whether or not there was a correlation with hat wearing and presence and/or duration of sun exposure.
High-resolution digital photographs of several seating sections were obtained during two games at Yankee Stadium using a camera (D100, Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) with a 210-mm lens. Photographs were taken during a daytime (June 22, 2005) and nighttime (June 20, 2005) game with identical teams playing (New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Devil Rays). Adjacent sunny and shaded seating sections were photographed during the day game (Fig 1). The identical seating sections were photographed during the night game. Photographs of each area were then analyzed using a high-resolution computer screen. Persons wearing baseball caps, hats with complete circumferential brims, or visors were defined as using hats. Fans wearing versus not wearing hats in each section were counted during day games in sunny and shaded seating sections and in identical sections at night. A separate evaluation of bleacher seating (where daytime attendees knew in advance that they would be exposed to sun) was performed comparing day and night games. In addition, the effect of sun exposure over time was evaluated by comparing the hat-wearing percentage in a section that remained sunny during the entire game in the second versus the sixth inning (2 hours later). Statistical significance was determined using the χ2 test.
Fig 1.
Representative images of attendees at baseball game sitting in sunny (A) and shaded (B) sections used for hat-wearing analysis.
A statistically significantly greater number of people wore hats in the sunny section (45%) than in the shaded section (33%) during a day game (P = .025) (Table I). Analysis of the same two sections at a night game showed no significant difference in hat wearing (30% in the daytime sunny section vs 33% in the daytime shady section). In the daytime shaded area, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of hats worn during the day (33%) versus night (33%). However, a statistically significantly greater number of people wore hats in the sunny section during the day (45%) than in that same section at night (30%; P = .01).
Table I. Hat-wearing status of attendees at a baseball game (comparison of day vs night games and sunny vs shaded sections)
| Hats | No hats | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day game | |||
 Sunny section | 86 (45%) | 104 (55%) | 190 |
| Shaded section | 87 (33%) | 173 (67%) | 260 |
| Night game | |||
| Daytime sunny section | 78 (30%) | 183 (70%) | 261 |
| Daytime shaded section | 88 (33%) | 179 (67%) | 267 |
| Total | 339 | 639 | 978 |
| Head covering in the bleachers (a seating area where attendees have prior knowledge that they will be exposed to sun during the entire game) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day game | 119 (47%) | 133 (53%) | 252 |
| Night game | 73 (37%) | 126 (63%) | 199 |
| Total | 192 | 259 | 451 |
| Comparison of head covering in a continuously sunny section over a 2-hour period | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny section second inning (1:30 pm) | 127 (44%) | 160 (56%) | 287 |
| Sunny section sixth inning (3:30 pm) | 129 (41%) | 185 (59%) | 314 |
| Total | 256 | 345 | 601 |
Of persons sitting in bleacher seats during the day game (who had prior knowledge that they would be in sunny seats), 47% wore hats versus 45% for those who sat in other sunny areas (P = not significant). There was only a 10% increase in hat wearing during the day versus night game in these seats compared with a 15% increase for the other sunny sections (P = not significant). There was no statistically significant difference in the number of hats worn by fans in the sunny section in the second inning (44%) and the same sunny section after 2 hours of continuous sun exposure in the sixth inning (41%).
The importance of sun protection in the setting of baseball has been recognized in the past decade. The Play Smart When It Comes To The Sun program is a public education campaign begun in 1999 partnering the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) with Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to raise public awareness about skin cancer.3 Major League Baseball teams are screened for skin cancer annually by local dermatologists in conjunction with a skin cancer prevention public education effort.
Although baseball hats are traditionally worn to demonstrate support for a team, the standard baseball cap brim can provide protection from UV damage to the face. This is important, because a majority of skin cancers appear on sun-exposed areas of the face, head, and neck.4, 5
Yet despite the intense levels of UV that persons attending a daytime baseball game are typically exposed to, less than half of the persons in this study seated in sunny locations wore hats. Even knowing in advance that seating would be in the sun or being in continuous sun for 2 hours did not increase head covering.
More than 15,000,000 persons annually attend daytime baseball games.6 This represents a unique public education opportunity to enhance sun-protective behaviors above current levels. Hats are an effective tool to lower UV exposure.7 The AAD and Major League Baseball may wish to augment the focus of the Play Smart When It Comes To The Sun program to teach the value of hats in sun protection at baseball games.
The authors wish to thank Eugene Monahan, Head Trainer, New York Yankees, and John Cassidy, Inspector, New York City Police Department, for their help in the completion of this study.
References
- . Players, umps help baseball pick up pace. USA Today. August 5, 2003:C1;
- . A picture of sun protection behavior. Cancer Forum. 1990;14:171–174
- Major league baseball players, fans urged to play it smart in the sun on melanoma Monday. Available from: URL:http://www.aad.org/NR/exeres/F9C7CD6F-412B-4717-8C43-EC70D4B17DE2.htm. Accessed August 15, 2005
- . Trends in the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancers in southeastern Arizona, 1985-1996. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2001;45:528–536
- . Sun exposure and basal cell carcinomas in the nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1993;29:34–41
- Major league baseball attendance. Available from: URL:http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance. Accessed August 15, 2005.
- . Hats: design and protection from ultraviolet radiation. Mil Med. 1989;154:250–255
PII: S0190-9622(05)04556-1
doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2005.11.1028
© 2006 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.
Volume 54, Issue 5 , Pages 918-919, May 2006
