News

With Queensland having the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, QUT and Cancer Council Queensland are joining forces to test an internet-based program to increase people's sun-protective behaviours.

They are asking Queenslanders to take part in one of the largest online programs of its kind to find out what influences their decisions to be sun safe.

QUT School of Psychology and Counselling Professor Katherine White said 420 adults were needed to participate in the online program, which had the potential to reduce the incidence of melanoma and its corresponding burden on Australia.

She said this was the final leg of a project which had been running since 2010 and that information gathered from previous surveys had been enlightening.

"We found that people were concerned about being less likely to tan, influenced by whether friends and peers were sun safe, and found they didn't always find sun-safe practices, like having sunscreen handy, to be convenient," she said.

"More fashionable sun-safe clothing, knowing whether you will be in the sun for a long time and even just remembering to perform sun-safe practices also influenced whether people were regularly sun safe.

"Our earlier work indicated people found unstylish long-sleeved shirts and hats as well as the texture of sunscreen turn-offs, but many people were very conscious of being sun safe in order to protect themselves from skin cancer and to ward off wrinkles, too."

Professor White said the team was now ready to test an online program that aimed to increase people's sun-protective behaviours.

"We need adults from across Queensland to participate in the program, which will help us better understand people's reasons for being sun safe or not," she said.

"Knowledge gained from the study will be used to further develop online programs to increase sun-protective behaviours."

She said Queensland had more than 3000 diagnoses of melanoma a year with approximately 133,000 non-melanoma skin cancers also diagnosed.

"Our program aims to reduce the incidence of melanoma, which can be life-threatening, as well as skin cancers generally," she said.

Professor White said the risk of skin cancer was substantially reduced by lowering exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.

"To test how useful online materials are for getting people to think about their sun-safety beliefs, we want to hear from people in regional, remote and rural areas as well as those living in metropolitan areas."

Cancer Council Queensland spokesperson Katie Clift said the study was important, as only 6 per cent of Queensland adults use all five recommended sun protective behaviours during summer.

"Queensland has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. We need to see more Queenslanders adopting more sun protective behaviours to reduce their risk of one of the most preventable cancers."

The program involves completing three 15-20 minute online questionnaires over a two month period. After the first questionnaire, participants will be randomly allocated to one of three groups to complete either a:

• 15-20 minute online intervention
• Watch a DVD and read factsheets from the Cancer Council Queensland, or
• Do nothing beyond the three questionnaires.

Professor White said the project, which receives Australian Research Council funding, would be doing valuable groundwork that would help in the development of programs to increase people's sun-protective behaviour.

To participate visit www.sunsafestudy.com.au or contact the project manager, Catherine Cleary at catherine.cleary@qut.edu.au

Media contact:
Rose Trapnell, QUT media team leader, 07 3138 2361 or 0407 585 901 rose.trapnell@qut.edu.au
Katie Clift, Head of Media at Cancer Council Queensland, 0409 001 171 katieclift@cancerqld.org.au