180 Skin health practices and skin risk behaviors of youth sexual minorities

Abstract

Previous studies have found a high prevalence of skin cancer in sexual minority males, and have reported an association with increased indoor tanning among sexual minority men. The existing literature is limited in its examination of skin health practices of youth sexual minorities, and no prior analysis has been performed for sunburn as a skin cancer risk factor in this cohort. Given the established association between skin cancer and sexual minority status, there is a need to better understand high-risk behaviors in this population. The aim of this study is to examine sunburn prevalence, indoor tanning, and sunscreen use among sexual minority youth. Data was obtained from the 1991-2017 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), a national survey of students in grades 9-12. We applied a linear regression model to assess association between sexual minority status in male and female youth and separate outcome variables of sunburn prevalence, indoor tanning, and sunscreen use. We found no significant correlation between sexual minority status and number of self-reported sunburns over a 12-month time period (β = -0.036, p=0.52, n=177,252) or appropriate use of sunscreen (β = 0.0078, p=0.79, n=16,085). There was, however, a significant association between sexual minority status and use of an indoor tanning device (sunlamp, sunbed, or tanning booth) over a 12-month time period (β = 0.148, p<0.001, n= 14,724). We report no association between sunburn prevalence, sunscreen use and youth sexual minority status in a male and female sexual minority youth population. These findings add to the body of literature that suggests the existence of unique skin risk behaviors among sexual minorities, and suggests future targets for health behavior instruction and public health interventions.