A measure of skin familiarity and its role in the early detection of skin cancer

Balanda, K. P., Stanton, WR, Baade, P. D., Lowe, J. B. and Clavarino, A. (2000) A measure of skin familiarity and its role in the early detection of skin cancer. Cancer Detection and Prevention, 24 2: 156-162.


Author Balanda, K. P.
Stanton, WR
Baade, P. D.
Lowe, J. B.
Clavarino, A.
Title A measure of skin familiarity and its role in the early detection of skin cancer
Journal name Cancer Detection and Prevention   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2000
Sub-type Article
Volume number 24
Issue number 2
ISSN 0361-090X
Start page 156
End page 162
Total pages 7
Place of publication Sudbury Mass
Publisher Jones & Bartlett
Collection year 2000
Language eng
Subject C1
321002 Dermatology
730108 Cancer and related disorders
Abstract Shin self-examination (SSE) is promoted widely so that individuals will become familiar with their shin and be better able to identify suspicious changes earlier. However, individuals can also become familiar with their skin other than through purposeful SSE. In this article, we develop a measure of skin familiarity based on the density of spots on 14 different areas of the body. A factor analysis of the 14 body-area scores revealed that they could be grouped into four broad body regions (shoulders and back, front of legs, back of legs, and feet). Each total body score and body-region score has high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.79 to 0.93). Moreover, the scores correlate as expected with skin self-examination behaviors and other personal characteristics. indicating high construct validity. We consider the advantages that skin familiarity measures offer over the exclusive use of SSE measures in the assessment of early detection activities and discuss the direction of future research in this area.
Keyword Oncology
Early Detection
Skin Familiarity
Skin Self-examination
Malignant-melanoma
Behaviors
Q-Index Code C1

 
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