Association of Skin Cancer and Indoor Tanning in Sexual Minority Men and Women

Skin cancer, the most common cancer in the United States, is highly associated with outdoor and indoor tanning behaviors. Although indoor tanning has been suggested to be more common among sexual minority (self-reported as homosexual, gay, or bisexual) men compared with heterosexual men, whether rates of skin cancer vary by sexual orientation is unknown.

To investigate whether skin cancer prevalence and indoor tanning behaviors vary by sexual orientation in the general population.

We performed a cross-sectional study using data from the 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2009 California Health Interview Surveys (CHISs) and the 2013 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) of population-based samples of the California and US noninstitutionalized civilian population. Participants included 192 575 men and women 18 years or older who identified as heterosexual or a sexual minority.

Self-reported lifetime history of skin cancer and 12-month history of indoor tanning.

The study included 78 487 heterosexual men, 3083 sexual minority men, 107 976 heterosexual women, and 3029 sexual minority women. Sexual minority men were more likely than heterosexual men to report having skin cancer and having tanned indoors. Sexual minority women were less likely than heterosexual women to report having had nonmelanoma skin cancer  and having tanned indoors.

Sexual minority men indoor tan more frequently and report higher rates of skin cancer than heterosexual men. Primary and secondary prevention efforts targeted at sexual minority men might reduce risk factors for, and consequences of, skin cancer.

Full article at: http://goo.gl/8QSWpS

By: Mansh M1, Katz KA2, Linos E3, Chren MM4, Arron S4.

• 1Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco 2Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
• 2Department of Dermatology, Kaiser Permanente, Pleasanton, California.
• 3Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco.
• 4Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco4Dermatology Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California.

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