Sunscreen Use among Medical Undergraduate Students in a Medical College: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. 2022

Kumud Chapagain, and Gajendra Prasad Rauniar
Department of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.

BACKGROUND Unprotected sun exposure could cause tanning, burning, hyperpigmentation, skin aging, and even skin cancer. Regular sunscreen use is a safeguard and a primary preventive strategy against sunlight-related damages. This study aims to find out the prevalence of sunscreen use among medical undergraduate students of a medical college of Eastern Nepal. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the current medical undergraduate students of 2 medical colleges in Nepal on sunscreen use from September 2020 to October 2020. Convenience sampling was done to reach the sample size of 300. Data collection was done after taking ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC/1778/020). Data analysis was done by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 11.5 software. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS The prevalence of sunscreen users was found to be 227 (75.67%) (70.81-80.52 at 95% Confidence Interval) among whom only 35 (15.41%) were regular users. Majority 144 (63.43%) applied sunscreen only on the face, 72 (31.71%) considered reapplication, and 155 (68.2%) knew the Sun Protection Factor value of their sunscreen. Cosmetic sunscreen was considered by the majority of the users 151 (66.51%). Greasy feeling 73 (100%) was the reason for avoiding sunscreen use amongst the non-users 73 (24.34%). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of sunscreen users among medical undergraduate students from our study was higher than other studies conducted in similar settings.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D003430 Cross-Sectional Studies Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time. Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013337 Students, Medical Individuals enrolled in a school of medicine or a formal educational program in medicine. Medical Student,Medical Students,Student, Medical
D013473 Sunscreening Agents Chemical or physical agents that protect the skin from sunburn and erythema by absorbing or blocking ultraviolet radiation. Sunscreen,Sunscreens,Agents, Sunscreening
D014495 Universities Educational institutions providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees. University
D015995 Prevalence The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time. Period Prevalence,Point Prevalence,Period Prevalences,Point Prevalences,Prevalence, Period,Prevalence, Point,Prevalences

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