Watch your back: A randomized efficacy study of a theory-guided website to promote melanoma knowledge and skin self-examination among young adults

Abstract

Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer, and incidence rates have been rising steadily for decades. Early detection improves prognosis, but even though most melanomas are visible to the naked eye, skin self-examination (SSE) rates are low, especially among young adults. These low SSE rates are troubling since melanoma is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among people ages 18–29 years. We developed a theory-guided website to promote melanoma knowledge and SSE among young adults and tested its efficacy in a randomized controlled study with 190 university students. Intervention group participants scored higher on average than control group participants on all outcome measures including melanoma knowledge (P < 0.001), perceived severity of melanoma (P < 0.001), perceived susceptibility for developing melanoma (P < 0.01), self-efficacy for performing SSE correctly (P < 0.001), response efficacy of SSE for helping people identify melanoma in its earlier most treatable stages (P < 0.001), and intention to perform SSE (P < 0.001).