Factors associated with regular sunscreen use by medical students of a Peruvian university

INTRODUCTION Use of sunscreen is encouraged to reduce the risk of skin pathologies caused by radiation. It is important to acknowledge the associated factors that promote or hinder sunscreen use in young populations as to design better prevention policies. OBJECTIVE To determine the factors associated with regular sunscreen use among first year medical students from a Peruvian university. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed. Our population was first-year medical students from a Peruvian university. We administrated an electronic survey to evaluate socio-demographic data, as well as student knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding photo-protection. We used ordinal logistic regression to analyze the factors associated with sunscreen use. RESULTS Of 420 first-year students, 299 completed our survey. We found that 53.5% of the participants were less than 18 years old, 63.2% were female, 9.3% (females more than males) responded that a sunburn was worth it to look tan, and 38.1% always or almost always used sunscreen during the summer. Factors associated with sunscreen use in the ordered logistic adjusted regression were male sex (OR = 0.50, IC95% = 0.34-0.86), participation in photo-protection workshops within the last year (OR = 2.40, IC95% = 1.28-4.37), and having somebody to remind them the use of sunscreen during the last three months (OR = 3.80, IC95% = 1.28-11.20). CONCLUSIONS In our sample, a higher sunscreen use was more often observed among female participants, those who attended skin protection workshops, and those reminded to use sunscreen. This highlights the importance of educational and reminder activities in the adoption of protective habits, such as sunscreen use.