Table 1.

Characteristics of the eleven studies included in the pooled analyses of sunburn and melanoma in women.

Study	Diagnosis Years	Age range	Geographic location	Number of:		Case Sources (Response Rate)	Histology	Control Sources (Response Rate)	Exposure Measurement
				Casese	Controlse				‘Painful’ sunburns	‘Severe’ sunburns	‘Severe’ sunburns in youth	Solar Keratoses
Hospital/clinic-based
Bataille et al. (1996)	1989–1993	16–75	North East Thames region, UK	255	253	Hospital pathology reporting (61%)	155 SSMa 36 NMb 16 LMMc 48 Otherd	Hospital outpatients, general practice surgeries (95%)		Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Elwood et al (1990)	1984–1986	20–79	Midlands, England	139	139	Pathology Laboratories (91%)	127 SSMa 12 NMb	Hospital inpatients and outpatients (78%)		Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Swerdlow et al. (1986)	1979–1984	15–84	Scotland	90	109	Dermatology departments; Plastic surgery unit	48 SSMa 23 NMb 9 LMMc 10 Otherd	Hospital inpatients and outpatients		Yes/No
Population-based
Gallagher et al. (1985)	1979–1981	20–79	Western Canada	215	251	Cancer Registries (88%)	159 SSMa 40 NMb 16 Otherd	Medical plan subscribers (59%)	Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Green et al. (1985)	1979–1980	15–81	Queensland, Australia	114	114	Pathology Laboratories (97%)	79 SSMa 9 NMb 23 LMMc 3 Otherd	State electoral roll (92%)		Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Holly et al. (1995)	1981–1986	25–59	San Francisco, California, USA	452	935	Cancer Registry (79%)	355 SSMa 61 NMb 13 LMMc 23 Otherd	Random digit dial (77%)	Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Holman et al. (1984)	1980–1981	10–79	Western Australia	278	278	Pathology Laboratories (90%)	168 SSMa 14 NMb 37 LMMc 59 Otherd	Electoral roll, student roll (participants <18 years of age) (69%)	Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Langholz et al. (2000)	1978–1983	<65	Los Angeles, USA	341	366	Cancer Registry (79%)	251 SSMa 56 NMb 2 LMMc 32 Otherd	Neighborhood controls		Yes/No number
Østerlind et al. (1988)	1982–1985	20–79	East Denmark	211	362	Cancer Registry (92%)	143 SSMa 41 NMb 27 Otherd	Population Register (82%)	Yes/No number	Yes/No number	Yes/No number
Smith et al. (1998)	1987–1989	≥ 18	Connecticut, USA	307	231	CT Tumor Registry (76%)	195 SSMa 23 NMb 42 LMMc 23 Otherd	Random digit dial (70%)		Yes/No number	Yes/No
Zanetti et al. (1990)	1984–1987	19–92	Turin, Italy	182	203	Cancer Registry (89%)	96 SSMa 20 NMb 20 LMMc 46 Otherd	National health service register (51%)		Yes/No number	Yes/No

^aSSM - superficial spreading melanoma,

^bNM – nodular melanoma,

^cLMM - lentigo maligna melanoma

^dincludes unclassified or other melanoma

^enumber of cases and controls with sunburn data