Primary prevention of malignant melanoma in a Swedish urban preschool sector

Abstract

Malignant melanoma is the most rapidly increasing tumor in Sweden. Sunburns in childhood are considered a major risk factor. In the spring of 1989, a health education program was therefore initiated in Stockholm County in cooperation with the local preschool authorities in the area. Lectures on malignant melanoma, hazards of sunburns in childhood, and the importance of sun awareness were arranged for the nursery school matrons in the preschool sector. Thirty-five of 42 authorities (83%) wanted a lecture for their nursery school matrons, whereas 17% of the authorities wanted to spread information on their own. Of 1,991 nursery schools, 1,783 (90%) took part in the information program. These, the Stockholm nonparticipants, and the rest of the country received written information from the Federation of Swedish Municipalities by initiative of the Department of Cancer Prevention. A questionnaire distributed to 574 randomly selected nursery schools in Stockholm county and to 100 in a reference area outside Stockholm showed that sun awareness was reported high in both places. Face-to-face information disseminated by an established organization was more effective in increasing sun awareness in the preschool sector than mailed information alone. In the areas where lectures were given, the message of sun awareness practice was passed on to nursery school staff and parents twice as effectively as in the reference area (p less than 0.01).