Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1997 Jun;87(6):1046–1049. doi: 10.2105/ajph.87.6.1046

Assessing children's ultraviolet radiation exposure: the use of parental recall via telephone interviews.

J A Mayer 1, J F Sallis 1, L Eckhardt 1, L Creech 1, M R Johnston 1, J P Elder 1, K J Lui 1
PMCID: PMC1380950  PMID: 9224196

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the validity of a parental report measure of children's solar protection behaviors. METHODS: Fifty-eight children had skin color assessed twice with a colorimeter. Between measurement sessions, parents were interviewed by telephone to assess children's indoor-outdoor status and solar protection across 40 hourly intervals. RESULTS: Parental report of child's indoor-outdoor status was significantly correlated with the colorimeter values, whereas the use of sunscreen and protective clothing was not. CONCLUSIONS: This measure was feasible for assessing ultraviolet exposure in young children. The component that assessed the number of intervals spent outdoors evidenced predictive validity.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Diffey B. L. A comparison of dosimeters used for solar ultraviolet radiometry. Photochem Photobiol. 1987 Jul;46(1):55–60. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1987.tb04735.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Eckhardt L., Mayer J. A., Creech L., Johnston M. R., Lui K. J., Sallis J. F., Elder J. P. Assessing children's ultraviolet radiation exposure: the potential usefulness of a colorimeter. Am J Public Health. 1996 Dec;86(12):1802–1804. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.12.1802. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fitzpatrick T. B. The validity and practicality of sun-reactive skin types I through VI. Arch Dermatol. 1988 Jun;124(6):869–871. doi: 10.1001/archderm.124.6.869. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Girgis A., Sanson-Fisher R. W., Tripodi D. A., Golding T. Evaluation of interventions to improve solar protection in primary schools. Health Educ Q. 1993 Summer;20(2):275–287. doi: 10.1177/109019819302000217. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Girgis A., Sanson-Fisher R. W., Watson A. A workplace intervention for increasing outdoor workers' use of solar protection. Am J Public Health. 1994 Jan;84(1):77–81. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.1.77. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Glass A. G., Hoover R. N. The emerging epidemic of melanoma and squamous cell skin cancer. JAMA. 1989 Oct 20;262(15):2097–2100. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Levine N., Sheftel S. N., Eytan T., Dorr R. T., Hadley M. E., Weinrach J. C., Ertl G. A., Toth K., McGee D. L., Hruby V. J. Induction of skin tanning by subcutaneous administration of a potent synthetic melanotropin. JAMA. 1991 Nov 20;266(19):2730–2736. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Marks R. Skin cancer--childhood protection affords lifetime protection. Med J Aust. 1987 Nov 16;147(10):475–476. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Seitz J. C., Whitmore C. G. Measurement of erythema and tanning responses in human skin using a tri-stimulus colorimeter. Dermatologica. 1988;177(2):70–75. doi: 10.1159/000248520. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stern R. S., Weinstein M. C., Baker S. G. Risk reduction for nonmelanoma skin cancer with childhood sunscreen use. Arch Dermatol. 1986 May;122(5):537–545. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Takiwaki H., Overgaard L., Serup J. Comparison of narrow-band reflectance spectrophotometric and tristimulus colorimetric measurements of skin color. Twenty-three anatomical sites evaluated by the Dermaspectrometer and the Chroma Meter CR-200. Skin Pharmacol. 1994;7(4):217–225. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Weinstock M. A., Colditz G. A., Willett W. C., Stampfer M. J., Bronstein B. R., Mihm M. C., Jr, Speizer F. E. Nonfamilial cutaneous melanoma incidence in women associated with sun exposure before 20 years of age. Pediatrics. 1989 Aug;84(2):199–204. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Weinstock M. A. The epidemic of squamous cell carcinoma. JAMA. 1989 Oct 20;262(15):2138–2140. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wyke P. L. Skin cancer and the ultraviolet spectrum. Lancet. 1983 Dec 10;2(8363):1372–1373. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)91138-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES