Table 2.

Relationship between age, gender and objective melanoma risk factors, and perceived threat, preference for a tan, and score of intentional tanning.

	Perceived threat (min=0, max=4)		Preferred level of tan (min=0, max=4)		Intentional tanning (min=0, max=15)
	Mean (SD)	Sig.	Mean (SD)	Sig.	Mean (SD)	Sig.
Gender	p < 0.001		p < 0.001		p < 0.001
Men	2.69 (0.56)		2.71 (0.76)		2.20 (2.22)
Women	2.84 (0.76)		2.78 (0.77)		2.44 (2.29)
Age	p < 0.001a		p < 0.001b		p < 0.001c
<25	2.66 (0.53)		2.85 (0.77)		2.93 (2.39)
25–30	2.71 (0.51)		2.78 (0.74)		2.49 (2.26)
31–40	2.75 (0.54)		2.78 (0.73)		2.31 (2.16)
41–50	2.77 (0.58)		2.73 (0.81)		2.20 (2.30)
>50	2.71 (0.57)		2.63 (0.78)		1.83 (2.14)
Hair colour	p < 0.001d		p < 0.001d		p < 0.001d
Black/Brown	2.77 (0.53)		2.79 (0.75)		2.39 (2.25)
Blond	2.83 (0.54)		2.72 (0.78)		2.53 (2.40)
Red	3.07 (0.58)		2.50 (0.87)		1.54 (1.87)
Fitzpatrick skin type	p < 0.001		p < 0.001		p < 0.001
III/IV	2.73 (0.52)		2.90 (0.69)		2.78 (2.35)
I/II	2.95 (0.54)		2.49 (0.84)		1.55 (1.87)
Presence of freckles	p < 0.001e		p < 0.001e		p < 0.001e
None	2.69 (0.53)		2.83 (0.75)		2.60 (2.30)
A few	2.83 (0.51)		2.74 (0.77)		2.32 (2.26)
Many	3.06 (0.51)		2.64 (0.79)		1.82 (2.16)
Sunburn before age 16	p < 0.001f		p < 0.001g		p < 0.001f
Never	2.63 (0.52)		2.86 (0.72)		2.68 (2.35)
1–3 times	2.80 (0.51)		2.73 (0.76)		2.36 (2.23)
Almost every summer	2.99 (0.54)		2.68 (0.82)		2.10 (2.34)
Number of large mole (>6mm)	p < 0.001h		p < 0.001i		p < 0.001j
None	2.69 (0.53)		2.83 (0.75)		2.60 (2.30)
1–2	2.83 (0.51)		2.74 (0.77)		2.32 (2.26)
>=3	3.06 (0.52)		2.64 (0.79)		1.82 (2.16)
Family history of melanoma	p < 0.001		p < 0.001		p < 0.001
No	2.76 (0.52)		2.78 (0.76)		2.44 (2.28)
Yes	3.20 (0.51)		2.59 (0.80)		1.68 (2.10)
Previous melanoma	p < 0.001		p < 0.001		p < 0.001
No	2.75 (0.51)		2.78 (0.76)		2.47 (2.28)
Yes	3.46 (0.45)		2.54 (0.88)		1.10 (1.83)
Total number of risk factors	p < 0.001k		p < 0.001k		p < 0.001k
0–3	2.63 (0.50)		2.92 (0.69)		2.75 (2.32)
4–5	2.80 (0.51)		2.73 (0.76)		2.46 (2.31)
> 5	3.09 (0.53)		2.53 (0.82)		1.63 (2.04)

^aAge group ‘<25’ had sig. lower score than the other age groups;

^bAge group ‘> 50‘ had sig. lower score than age groups ‘<25’, ’25–30’ and ’31–40’, and age group ’41–50’ had sig. lower score than age groups ’<25’;

^cAge groups ‘<25‘ had sig. higher score than the other age groups, and age group ’>50’ had lower score that the other age groups;

^dRespondents with red hair colour had statistically significantly different score that those with blond or darker hair colour;

^eRisk perception increased significantly with increasing number of freckling, and intentional tanning preference and intentional tanning frequency increased;

^fRisk perception increased significantly with increasing number of childhood sunburns, and intentional tanning frequency increased;

^gRespondents with no history of childhood sunburn scored significantly higher on preferred level of suntan;

^hThere was a significant linear trend for number of moles and risk perception;

ⁱRespondents with no moles scored significantly higher on preferred level of suntan than those with three or more moles;

^jRespondents with three or more moles scored significantly lower on the scale measuring frequency of intentional tanning;

^kThere was a significant linear trend for total number of risk factors and risk perception, tan-preference and tanning.