Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Volume 61, Issue 5 , Pages 783-792 , November 2009

Exposure to mass media health information, skin cancer beliefs, and sun protection behaviors in a United States probability sample

  • Jennifer Hay, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Jennifer Hay, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 641 Lexington Ave, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10022.
    • ,
  • Elliot J. Coups, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    • ,
  • Jennifer Ford, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
    • ,
  • Marco DiBonaventura, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Consumer Health Services International, New York, New York

,Accepted 14 April 2009.

References 

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  2. Fox S. Most Internet users start at a search engine when looking for health information online. Very few check the source and date of the information they find. Pew Internet and American Life Project. 2006. Available from: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/Online-Health-Search-2006.aspx. Accessed May 11, 2009.
  3. Hesse B, Nelson D, Kreps G, Croyle R, Arora N, Rimer B, et al. Trust and sources of health information: the impact of the Internet and its implications for health care providers; findings from the first health information national trends survey. Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:2618–2624
  4. Finney-Rutten LJ, Squiers L, Hesse B. Cancer-related information seeking: hints from the 2003 health information national trends survey. J Health Commun. 2006;11:147–156
  5. Napoli PM. Consumer use of medical information from electronic and paper media: a literature review. In:  Rice RE,  Katz JE editor. The Internet and health communication: experiences and expectations. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage; 2001;
  6. American Cancer Society. Cancer facts and figures 2009. Available at: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/STT_0.asp. Accessed May 11, 2009.
  7. Armstrong BK, Kricker A. The epidemiology of UV induced skin cancer. J Photochem Photobiol. 2001;63:8–18
  8. Gandini S, Sera F, Cattaruzza M, Pasquini P, Picconi O, Boyle P, et al. Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma, II: sun exposure. Eur J Cancer. 2005;41:45–60
  9. Kricker A, Armstrong B, Goumas C, Litchfield M, Begg C, Hummer A, et al. Ambient UV, personal sun exposure and risk of multiple primary melanomas. Cancer Causes Control. 2007;18:295–304
  10. Leventhal H, Brissette I, Leventhal EA. The common-sense model of self-regulation of health and illness. In:  Cameron LD,  Leventhal H editor. The self-regulation of health and illness behavior. London: Routledge; 2003;p. 42–65
  11. Hagger MS, Orbell S. A meta-analytic review of the common-sense model of illness representations. Psychol Health. 2003;18:141–184
  12. Cameron LD. Illness risk representations and motivations to engage in protective behavior: the case of skin cancer risk. Psychol Health. 2007;23:91–112
  13. Figueiras MJ, Alves NC. Lay perceptions of serious illnesses: an adapted version of the revised illness perception questionnaire (IPQ-R) for healthy people. Psychol Health. 2007;22:143–158
  14. NCI. National Cancer Institute. Health information national trends survey. Available from: http://hints.cancer.gov/. Accessed May 11, 2009.
  15. Nelson D, Powell-Griner E, Town M, Kovar M. A comparison of national estimates from the national health interview survey and the behavioral risk factor surveillance system. Am J Public Health. 2003;93:1335–1341
  16. Nelson D, Kreps G, Hesse B, Croyle R, Willis G, Arora N, et al. The health information national trends survey (HINTS): development, design, and dissemination. J Health Commun. 2004;9:443–460
  17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sunburn prevalence among adults–United States, 1999, 2003, and 2004. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2007;56:524–528
  18. Coups EJ, Manne SL, Heckman CJ. Multiple skin cancer risk behaviors in the US population. Am J Prev Med. 2008;34:87–93
  19. Bichakjian CK, Schwartz JL, Wang TS, Hall JM, Johnson TM, Sybil Biermann J. Melanoma information on the Internet: often incomplete–a public health opportunity?. J Clin Oncol. 2002;20:134–141
  20. Skin cancer sites online: watch out for red flags. J Drugs Dermatol. 2003;2:541–543
  21. Bhavnani SK. The distribution of online healthcare information: a case study on melanoma. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2003;81–85
  22. Aitken JF, Youl P, Green A, MacLennan R, Martin NG. Accuracy of case-reported family history of melanoma in Queensland, Australia. Melanoma Res. 1996;6:313–317

 Supported in part by National Cancer Institute grants K07CA98106 (Dr Hay), 5R25CA057708-13 (Dr Coups; Principal Investigator: Paul F. Engstrom, MD) and ACS MRSG-07-165-01 CPPB (Dr Ford).

 Conflicts of interest: None declared.

PII: S0190-9622(09)00507-6

doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2009.04.023

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Volume 61, Issue 5 , Pages 783-792 , November 2009

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