| Abstrakt: |
Purpose: It was aimed to evaluate the sun protection methods and skin cancer risk factors among medical students. Materials and Methods: The universe of the descriptive research is 1,2,3,4,5 and 6th grade students (1482 students) of the medical faculty of a state university. It was aimed to reach the whole universe, no sample size was calculated. The questionnaire was delivered via WhatsApp in November-December 2021. Sociodemographic information, skin cancer risk factors, sun protection methods were questioned (38 questions). The behaviors of sun protection methods were evaluated by scoring the questions (6 questions). Higher score indicates higher protection behavior. Median, minimum, maximum values, numbers (n) and percentages (%) were used for descriptive data. The Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the quantitative variables that did not fit the normal distribution. The significance level was considered as p<0.05. Results: Of the participants 58.3% (n=354) were women, 25.2% (n=153) were sixth grade. Of the students 34.9% (n=212) use sunscreen, 32.3% (n=196) use a hat, 39.9% (n=242) use sunglasses only in summer. Of the students 48.9% (n=297) had Fitzpatrick skin type 3, 20.3% (n=484) reported having more than 50 nevi, 37.2% (n=226) reported having nevi larger than 2 mm. Female students, students educating in upper classes and living in coastal areas, having Type 1-2-3 skin types and freckles had higher sun protection behavior scores (p<0.05). Conclusions: The rate of medical faculty students paying attention to sun protection methods is not sufficient. Awareness on this issue should be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
