Knowledge and Practice of Skin Cancer Prevention in Sailors in Southern Iran in 2019

The trend of skin cancer in personnel in the open workplace, including sailors, is increasing alarmingly due to exposure to the sunchr('39')s ultraviolet rays. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of skin cancer prevention in sailors in southern Iran.

This cross-sectional study was performed in 2019 on 330 sailors in Deir port in southern Iran who were selected by simple random sampling. The researcher-made questionnaire was used in two parts including demographic data and knowledge and preventive behaviors towards skin cancer. Data were analyzed using SPSS-20 software.

The mean age of 330 sailors; was 37.9±10.4 years. Sailorschr('39') knowledge in this study was moderate. The majority of sailors (74%) stated that changing working hours is a good way to reduce exposure to sunlight and sunburn. Regarding sunscreen, almost the majority of sailors (66%) reported that they had never and rarely used sunscreen. Regarding skin cancer screening, the majority of sailors (72%) had never had skin screening by a physician.

Despite the abundant evidence on the risk of skin cancer in personnel in the open workplace, including sailors, this group is still not sufficiently aware of the issue. To reduce the incidence of the disease and its potential risks, it is necessary to develop sustainable training programs and implement protective measures for sailors.