Counselling about skin cancer prevention among adolescents: what do parents receive from health care providers?

This study from the USA has used an online survey to establish what advice parents are provided about skin cancer prevention for their adolescent children by their GPs. Adolescence is a high-risk period for UV light exposure which increases life-time risk of skin cancer. Over 1200 parents participated in the online survey which revealed that less than half remembered discussing skin cancer prevention with their child’s primary care provider. Having a higher quality relationship with the provider increased the odds of receiving counselling as did if the child had more sun-reactive skin. Overall, greater attention to skin care prevention prevention should be considered to help minimise avoidable UV exposure and reduce life-time skin cancer risk in adolescents.   Read the full article here.