Video-based info increases men's skin health awareness

(HealthDay)—Exposure to video-based education increases men's skin awareness and attendance at whole-body clinical skin examinations (CSEs), according to a study published in the April issue of JAMA Dermatology.

Monika Janda, Ph.D., from the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues conducted a clinical trial in which men (aged ≥50 years) were randomized to receive either a video-based intervention (469 men) or brochures only (461 men; overall response rate, 37.1 percent). Interviews were conducted at baseline and seven months later.

The researchers found that 540 of 870 men (62.1 percent) self-reported a CSE since receiving intervention materials. Men in both groups had similar attendance to any CSE (56.4 percent in the intervention group and 52.8 percent in the control group), but those in the intervention group were more likely to self-report a whole-body CSE (35.3 versus 27.2 percent; P = 0.01). Diagnosis occurred for two melanomas, 29 squamous cell carcinomas, and 38 basal cell carcinomas, with a higher proportion of malignant lesions in the intervention group (60.0 versus 40.0 percent; P = 0.03). There were higher odds of CSE and skin cancer diagnosis based on baseline attitudes, behaviors, and skin cancer history.

"A video-based intervention may increase whole-body CSE and skin cancer diagnosis in older men," the authors write.