Skin Cancer Knowledge, Behaviors and Attitudes among Adults in Latvia
Authors
Anastasija Kraveca1, Elvijs Ošs1 and Elga Sidhoma2 1Faculty of Medicine, Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia; 2Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia
Sun, awareness, melanoma, sun protection, prevention, sunscreen.
Abstract
Background: One of the most preventable malignancies is skin cancer. Nevertheless, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of skin cancer throughout the world in the last few decades. The situation in Latvia is no exception - at the end of 2017, skin cancer was the most frequent diagnosis among malignant cancers. Objective: Document the level of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of adults concerning skin cancer and sun protection as well as to find statistically significant associations between all parameters investigated, the sociodemographic data and risk factors of skin cancer of the respondents. Methods: The self – reported questionnaire form was used to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among the survey sample. Results: Total of 298 individuals fully completed questionnaires. The median score of knowledge was found to be ten with a total possible score of twenty. Majority of respondents (59.4%) got score less than or equal to ten. All sociodemographic factors and risk factors were analyzed, but the only significant associations were found between age and knowledge score, education level and knowledge score, occupation and knowledge scores. Further there were statistically significant associations between gender, age and sun protective behaviors. Conclusion: Level of knowledge about skin cancer, attitude and sun protective behaviors are influenced by several factors including age, gender, educational level and occupation.
