Psychological Determinants of Sunscreen Use among Iranian Students: A Theory Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and its prevalence continues to increase. The aim of this study was to determine prevalence and psychological determinants of sunscreen use in order to prevent skin cancer among Iranian students based on the health belief model (HBM). Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 550 high school students in Abadan city, Southern Iran, during 2017, which were randomly selected to participate voluntarily, in the Southern of Iran. Data collection was carried out using self-made questionnaire and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 software. Results The mean age of participants was 16.40 + 0.93 years, ranging from 15 to 19 years. Prevalence of using daily sunscreen was almost 15.5%. There was a significant relationship between using daily sunscreen with sex (female) and higher economic status (P<0.05). The Health Belief Model (HBM) variables predictor accounted for 27% of the variation in the outcome measure of use the sunscreen. Perceived barrier (Beta = -0.290 and P<0.001), Perceived benefits (Beta = 0.242 and P< 0.001) and cues to action (Beta = 0.155 and P= 0.006) were the more influential predictor on sunscreen use. Conclusion We found that girl students compare than boy students were more daily use of sunscreen. Furthermore, comprehensive sunscreen use promotion programs focus on psychological determinants such as perceived barrier, perceived benefits and cues to action may be usefulness of the results in order to promotion of sunscreen.