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National Event Exercises
Part V and VI: Skin Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention

Skin Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. Exercise and Answer Key. PDF 511K. Learn about viewing PDF files with Adobe Acrobat.

Part V
(Recommended time: 15 minutes)

See Also...
Part I
Part II, III, & IV
Part V & VI
Answer Key

In your meeting with the governor, you want to be able to present the major risk factors for skin cancer so you can discuss how Delaware can bring its skin cancer mortality rate down.

You know that the major preventable cause of skin cancer is exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun over many years. To determine which behaviors of people put them at risk for sun exposure, you find an excellent resource, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The survey collects data on important health-related behaviors, such as smoking and exercise, among young people. Data from the YRBS are used at the national, state, and local levels for a variety of public health programs.

Students complete the self-administered YRBS questionnaire in their classrooms during a regular class period, recording their responses directly on a computer-scanned answer sheet. The students’ parents’ permission is obtained before the survey. For the first time, in 1999, the national YRBS asked students about sunscreen use.

Table 1 includes findings on sunscreen use from a sample of 15,439 U.S. high school students. Students were asked, “How often do you wear sunscreen or sun block with an SPF of 15 or higher when you are outside for more than one hour on a sunny day?” Possible multiple-choice responses included “never,” “rarely,” “sometimes,” “most of the time,” or “always.”

Table 1. Prevalence of sunscreen use¹ among U.S. high school students, by demographic characteristics
— Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1999.²

	N³	Never %	Rarely %	Sometimes %	Most of the time or Always %
Total	15,349	35.9	29.3	21.4	13.3
Age (years)
<=14	1,308	30.5	26.1	25.9	17.5
15	3,378	35.2	29.1	22.1	13.7
16	3,988	35.3	29.8	21.2	13.7
17	4,013	36.6	30.4	21.1	11.9
>=18	2,631	41.0	29.0	18.3	11.6
Sex
Female	7,828	29.8	28.4	23.8	18.1
Male	7,445	42.0	30.3	19.1	8.6
Race or Ethnicity
White	5,407	25.0	32.5	26.0	16.5
Black	4,283	74.1	13.7	7.4	4.8
Hispanic or Latino	4,106	43.2	28.4	17.6	10.8
Grade
9	3,786	37.0	27.5	21.0	14.6
10	3,787	34.2	29.5	22.8	13.6
11	3,885	35.8	30.1	21.7	12.5
12	3,823	36.6	30.7	20.3	12.4

Footnotes for Table 1:
¹	Wear sunscreen or sun block with an SPF of 15 or higher when outside for more than one hour on a sunny day.
²	Prevalence estimates based on weighted data.
³	Unweighted numbers. Numbers may not add to total because of missing information.
Source: Hall HI, Jones SE, Saraiya M. Correlates of Sunscreen Use. Journal of School Health

13. Give two reasons why Disease Detectives would be interested in monitoring the sunscreen use of high school students?

14. Define “prevalence” as used in Table 1.

15. Using Table 1, determine the prevalence for frequent (“most of the time” or “always”) sunscreen use.

16. Use the data in Table 1 to identify three characteristics of a hypothetical student who is least likely to use sunscreen.

Part VI
(Recommended time: 10 minutes)

The data in Table 2 show what percentage of students who reported practicing the health-related behaviors listed there also reported wearing sunscreen. For example, 10.7% of the students who reported “never or rarely” wearing a bicycle helmet also said that they wore sunscreen either “most of the time” or “always.”

Table 2. Prevalence of frequent use of sunscreen¹ among U.S. high school students, by other health-related behaviors
— Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1999.

	Frequent Sunscreen Use (%) Note: N=15,349.
Bicycle helmet use²
Never or Rarely	10.7
Sometimes, most of the time, or always	25.7
Seat Belt Use
Never or Rarely	8.4
Sometimes, most of the time, or always	14.3
Drove after Drinking Alcohol or Rode with Drinking Driver³
0 times	15.3
1 or more times	9.7
Carried a Weapon⁴
0 times	14.2
1 or more times	9.5
Cigarette Smoking⁴
0 days	14.5
1 or more days	11.2
Alcohol Use⁴
0 days	15.1
1 or more days	11.6
Marijuana Use⁴
0 days	14.4
1 or more days	10.1
Sexual Activity⁵
Yes	9.4
No	15.2
Body Mass Index⁶
Overweight	9.4
At risk for being overweight	11.1
Neither overweight nor at risk for overweight	14.0
Fruit and Vegetable consumption⁷
Yes	17.8
No	12.0
Physical activity⁸
Both vigorous and moderate	16.9
Vigorous only	12.8
Moderate only	10.9
Neither vigorous nor moderate	11.9

Footnotes for Table 2:
¹	Used sunscreen most of the time or always.
²	Among students who rode a bicycle during the 12 months preceding the survey.
³	During the 30 days preceding the survey, drove after drinking alcohol or rode with a driver who had been drinking.
⁴	During the 30 days preceding the survey.
⁵	Had sexual intercourse during the 3 months preceding the survey.
⁶	Body Mass Index (kg/m2) categorized as overweight (at least 95th percentile), at risk for being overweight (at least 85th but <95th percentile), and neither overweight nor at risk for overweight (<85th percentile).
⁷	Had eaten at least 5 servings/day of 100% fruit juice, fruit, green salad, potatoes (excluding french fries, fried potatoes, or potato chips), carrots, or other vegetables during the 7 days preceding the survey.
⁸	Vigorous physical activity: activities that caused sweating and hard breathing for at least 20 minutes on at least 3 of the 7 days preceding the survey. Moderate physical activity: activities that did not cause sweating and hard breathing for at least 30 minutes on at least 5 of the 7 days preceding the survey.
Source: Hall HI, Jones SE, Saraiya M. Correlates of Sunscreen Use. Journal of School Health

17. Use the data in Table 2 to identify three behaviors with which sunscreen use is positively associated.

18. Using sunscreen is one way to reduce ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Other sun-safety measures include wearing hats and long-sleeved clothing, and limiting time spent in the sun during midday. List three ways to encourage students to adopt any of these behaviors.

19. List two limitations to the YRBS that you noted while using the data to study sun protective practices.

Science Olympiad» Disease Detectives Event » National Event Exercises Part V and VI: Skin Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention

Part V (Recommended time: 15 minutes)

Part VI (Recommended time: 10 minutes)

Science Olympiad» Disease Detectives Event » National Event Exercises
Part V and VI: Skin Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention

Part V
(Recommended time: 15 minutes)

Part VI
(Recommended time: 10 minutes)