Malignant melanoma : awareness of malignant melanoma, risk factors and related behavior towards them among adolescents in Slovenia

Incidenca malignega melanoma v Sloveniji v zadnjih desetletjih strmo narašča, poznavanje malignega melanoma in dejavnikov tveganja pa je med populacijo še vedno vprašljivo in malo raziskano. Najpomembnejši dejavnik tveganja za nastanek bolezni je delovanje ultravijoličnih žarkov, pred katerimi se je treba fizično zaščititi in uporabljati sredstva za zaščito pred soncem, predvsem v mladosti. Namen raziskave je bil pridobiti podatke o poznavanju malignega melanoma, dejavnikov tveganja in odnosu do njih ter primerjava odgovorov med študenti Medicinske fakultete in študenti treh ostalih fakultet. V presečno in anketno raziskavo so bili vključeni študentje štirih fakultet Univerze v Ljubljani: Medicinske fakultete, Fakultete za elektrotehniko, Fakultete za farmacijo ter Fakultete za matematiko in fiziko, ki so prek spletne povezave odgovarjali na anonimni vprašalnik. Odgovori 66,3 odstotka študentov Medicinske fakultete in 33,7 odstotka študentov ostalih fakultet kažejo, da je poznavanje malignega melanoma boljše med študenti Medicinske fakultete, razlika je statistično značilna (p = 0,0001). Študenti se v poznavanju dejavnikov tveganja statistično značilno razlikujejo le v pogostnosti uporabe zaščite pred soncem (p = 0,0001) in uporabljenem zaščitnem faktorju (p = 0,015). Študenti medicine s svetlimi tipi kože se pred soncem zaščitijo pogosteje, obstaja statistično značilna razlika (p = 0,001). Študenti Medicinske fakultete statistično značilno bolje prepoznavajo maligni melanom kot nevarno obliko kožnega raka. Pogosteje se tudi zaščitijo pred ultravijoličnimi žarki in uporabljajo višje zaščitne faktorje kot študenti ostalih fakultet. Kljub zelo visokem vedenju o škodljivosti izpostavljanja UV-žarkom med mlado slovensko populacijo je ukrepanje bistveno slabše.Malignant melanoma in Slovenia continues to increase rapidly in incidence over the last decades. Knowledge and risk factors amongst the population is still questionable and poorly investigated. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation is the leading risk factor for melanoma development, therefore physical protection and use of sunscreens with sun protection factors is crucial. The study aimed to investigate awareness of melanoma, risk factors and related behavior towards them among students of four faculties of University of Ljubljana: Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and to compare the answers between medical students and students of the other three faculties. The study was cross-sectional and survey-based. Students answered an anonymous questionnaire, which was sent to them through a website link. Answers obtained by 66.3% medical students and 33.7% students of other three faculties showed that medical students have statistically significant better knowledge about melanoma, (p=0.0001). It has also been found that there was statistical difference in frequency of protecting themselves from the sun (p=0.0001) and in used sun protection factor (p=0.015). Medical students with fair skin types more frequently used some means of protection from ultraviolet radiation, the measured difference was statistically significant (p=0.001). Medical students significantly better recognize malignant melanoma as the most threatening type of skin cancer. They also protect themselves from the sun more often and use higher sun protection factors. Slovenian adolescent population has high knowledge about harmful effects of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, but responds poorly to it