T. Dwyer et al., ASSESSMENT OF HABITUAL SUN EXPOSURE IN ADOLESCENTS VIA QUESTIONNAIRE - A COMPARISON WITH OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT USING POLYSULFONE BADGES, Melanoma research, 6(3), 1996, pp. 231-239
The reliability and validity of sun exposure questions were examined i
n a group of 125 schoolchildren aged 14-15 years of northern European
ancestry. We compared estimates of erythemally effective dose (EED) ob
tained from polysulphone badges worn on four consecutive weekend days
in late spring to answers to several questions on habitual sun exposur
e. The polysulphone badge estimates accurately reflected the reported
sun exposure of children and were highly correlated with responses to
questions on habitual sun exposure obtained 12 months earlier. For the
question ''During weekends and school holidays, how much time do you
usually spend in the sun each day'', the Pearson correlation coefficie
nts for the association with EED were 0.36 (girls) and 0.23 (boys). Ad
justed for within-person variation in the EED measurements, the correl
ation coefficients were 0.65 (girls) and 0.43 (boys). For the question
''Weekends and school holidays, where do you spend your time'', the c
orrelation coefficients were 0.18 (girls) and 0.32 (boys); the adjuste
d coefficients were 0.30 (girls) and 0.53 (boys). The findings suggest
that 'habitual' sun exposure in teenage children is a temporally stab
le behaviour that is reported with an acceptable degree of reliability
and validity.