Factors Influencing the Practice of Sun Protection by Medical Students in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Sun exposure is considered as one of the most common modifiable risks of skin cancer. The World health organization recommended for continuous protection from ultraviolet radiation by taking several measurements to avoid his potential hazard. The general objective was to explore the knowledge, behavior concerning skin cancer, sun protection, and factors associated with inappropriate use of sun-protection methods among Saudi Arabian medical students.

We represent a descriptive cross-sectional observational study based on an online survey conducted in Saudi Arabia on September-December 2019. The questionnaire consisted of a short demographic form as well as 21 mandatory questions. The questionnaire's link was distributed online to medical students with the help of famous medical students twitter accounts.

Our findings show the knowledge of the participants influences their sun-related behaviors As we can notice, 68.2% of the participants know that sun exposure is the most common skin cancer cause, and therefore, 64.1% use sunscreen on summer-time. The proportion of students who use various methods of sun protection was high; 70.3% don’t go out on intense sunlight time, 56.25% of respondents always walk in the shade, 52.6% use sun protection creams, and 41.67% use sunglasses.

The Saudi Arabian medical students have a relatively high knowledge level towards the ultraviolet radiation hazardous and ways of protection.