Internet based health promotion campaign against skin cancer - Results of www.skincheck.ch in Switzerland

Barysch, Marjam-Jeanette; Cozzio, Antonio; Kolm, Isabel; Hrdlicka, Susanne Ruf; Brand, Christoph; Hunger, Robert; Kreyden, Oliver; Schaffner, Reto; Zaugg, Thomas; Dummer, Reinhard (2010). Internet based health promotion campaign against skin cancer - Results of www.skincheck.ch in Switzerland. European journal of dermatology EJD, 20(1), pp. 109-14. Montrouge: John Libbey Eurotext 10.1684/ejd.2010.0827

Full text not available from this repository.

Conventional skin cancer prevention programs appeal to limited populations, and the middle aged male population responds less frequently. Our objective was to establish a complementary health promotion campaign tool for skin cancer prevention. Internet-based education, instruction for self assessment and teledermatological evaluation of skin lesions by an expert commission of dermatologists was used. Compliance and clinical diagnosis was assessed in a subgroup. 12,000 users visited the educational website. There was strong interest among the middle aged male population (53% (N = 262): male; mean age: 42). 28.5% of examined lesions (N = 494) were considered suspicious. Email requests, sent to the group whose lesions where considered suspicious, were answered by 46.0% of females (N = 29) and 59.7% of males (N = 46) with a female distribution predominantly in younger ages (52.6% of females with known age: < 30 years). Males were predominantly represented over 30 years (86.2% of all males). According to user's declarations, at least 8 (8.5%) malignant lesions (1 melanoma in situ, 1 squamous cell carcinoma, 4 basal cell carcinomas, 2 malignant lesions without declared diagnosis) were finally diagnosed by physicians. We conclude that internet-based, interactive, educational programs, in addition to existing health promotion campaigns, can enhance public participation in the middle aged male population in skin cancer prevention.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Dermatology, Urology, Rheumatology, Nephrology, Osteoporosis (DURN) > Clinic of Dermatology
UniBE Contributor:	Hunger, Robert
ISSN:	1167-1122
Publisher:	John Libbey Eurotext
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:07
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:00
Publisher DOI:	10.1684/ejd.2010.0827
PubMed ID:	19825529
Web of Science ID:	000274218000017
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/198 (FactScience: 196881)