- Title
- Solarium use in Australia, recent trends and context
- Creator
- Francis, Kate; Dobbinson, Suzanne; Wakefield, Melanie; Girgis, Afaf
- Relation
- Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Vol. 34, Issue 4, p. 427-430
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-6405.2010.00578.x
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2010
- Description
- Objectives: To describe the prevalence of solarium use among representative samples of Australian adolescents (12-17 years) and adults (18-69 years). Methods: In national surveys conducted in 2003/04 and 2006/07 using equivalent methods, n=11,509 Australian adolescents and adults self-reported their use of solaria. Results: In 2006/07 10.6% of adults had ‘ever’ used a solarium, and use was most prevalent among women aged 18 to 24 (17.1%) and 25 to 44 (20.7%). Few adolescents (2.5%) had ever used a solarium. The prevalence of past year use was much lower (0.6% of adolescents, 1.5% of adults) and there was a significant reduction among adults between surveys (OR=0.69, 95% CI=0.52–0.94). Adults’ attitudes related to past year solarium use were preference for a suntan (OR=4.68, 95% CI=2.48–8.85); perceived protan attitudes of peers (OR=2.10, 95% CI=1.17–3.77), belief that a suntan looks healthy (OR=1.92, 95% CI=1.09–3.39); and perceiving they have some risk of getting skin cancer (OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.03–2.78). Conclusions and implications: Although solarium use in Australia is relatively low, it is highest among young adult women. These data show encouraging downward trends in use, and provide a foundation for monitoring the impact of forthcoming regulatory changes to the solarium industry.
- Subject
- solaria; adults; adolescents; tanning; sun beds
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/929729
- Identifier
- uon:10669
- Identifier
- ISSN:1326-0200
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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