TABLE 2.

Questions on geographical variables, sunburns, and tendency of the skin to tan and burn answered by the four study populations at baseline and at follow-up, Queensland study of Melanoma: Environmental and Genetics Associations (Q-MEGA), Queensland, Australia, 1987–2005

Baseline Questions					Follow-up questions
Country of birth	Queensland Familial Melanoma Project	Children	Adolescents	Men Over 50
	Where were you born?	Not asked	Where were you born?	Where were you born?	Where were you born?
State lived most from ages 5 to 12 years	Write the main place you lived for each period. (A residence calendar was provided to indicate name of town and state at different periods of age throughout life)	List all the schools you have attended since Grade 1. (A school exposures calendar was provided to indicate name of school, grades in that school, town, and postcode)	List all the towns you have lived in, starting from birth and up until age (of diagnosis of melanoma). Please tell me the years in which you lived in that place. (A residence calendar was provided to indicate name of town, years lived in town and postcode)	I am now going to ask about the period you spent at school. Please take some time to consider your answers. I will start with the first school that you attended, and ask about how you spent your days there. (A school exposures calendar was provided to indicate name of school, town, state, country and age range of respondent in each school)	Between the ages of 5 and 12, that is, when you were in primary school, in which town, state and country did you mostly live?
History of sunburns	How many times in your life were you sunburned so as to cause pain for two or more days? never once 2–5 times ≥ 6 times	How many times in your life have you ever been sunburned (when you were red and sore? How many times in your life have you peeled after sunburn? How many times in your life have you blistered after sunburn? never 1 time 2–5 times more than times	How many times in your life have you ever been sunburned (when you were red and sore)? How many times in your life have you peeled after sunburn? How many times in your life have you blistered after sunburn? never 1 time 2–5 times 5–10 times >10 times	Have you ever had a severe and painful sunburn where the pain lasted at least 48 hours? If yes, can you tell me approximately how many times in your life you have been severely sunburned? (Open-ended question)	Before age 20, how many times would you have been sunburned where you blistered and peeled, or where pain lasted for two or more days? For comparison with men only: Since age 20, how many times would you have been sunburned where you blistered and peeled, or where pain lasted for two or more days? Would you say… never once 2–5 times 6–10 times more than 10 times
Tanning ability of skin	Sun tan after repeated and prolonged exposure to sunlight: very brown and deeply tanned moderately tanned only slightly tanned due to a tendency to peel not sun tanned at all or only freckled	If you had two weeks holiday at the beach in summer and spent every day out in the sun, and you did not use any suncream or hats, how tanned do you think you would be? no tan at all, but freckled no tan at all and no freckles mild tan medium tan dark tan	If you had two weeks holiday at the beach in summer and spent every day out in the sun, and you did not use any sunscreen or hats, how tanned do you think you would be? no tan at all, but freckled no tan at all, and no freckles mild tan medium tan dark tan	After you have been exposed to the sun repeatedly, how dark a tan do you usually get? none light medium dark	Imagine when you were in your 20s, that you spent several weeks outdoors in strong sun, without any protections like sunscreen or clothing. How much would your skin tan? not tan at all tan lightly tan moderately tan deeply
Tendency to burn	Summary of type of skin: always burns, never tans usually burns, sometimes tans sometimes burns, usually tans never burns, always tans	If you sat on the beach for an hour in the middle of summer with no suncream or shade, what do you think would happen to your skin? burn and then peel burn and then tan slightly tan slightly without burning tan a lot without burning	How would you describe your type of skin? always burns, never tans usually burns, sometimes tans sometimes burns, usually tans never burns, always tans	If for the first time in summer you were out in the sun for one hour, would you: become painfully sunburned and afterwards peel burn first and then tan just tan without sunburn	Imagine when you were in your 20s, that you were outdoors in the strong sun for 30 minutes in the middle of the day without any protection like sunscreen or clothing, for the first time in summer. How much would your skin have burnt? always burned, never tanned usually burned, sometimes tanned sometimes burned, usually tanned never burned, always tanned