Sun protection questionnaire in Buenos Aires adolescent athletes

Introduction. Excessive sun exposure is the major environmental factor in the development of skin cancer. Adolescents who play outdoor sports are highly exposed to ultraviolet rays, which will result in cumulative photodamage with a higher risk of developing skin cancer in adulthood. Objectives. 1) To evaluate sun protection habits in Buenos Aires adolescent athletes. 2) To identify the characteristics of those adolescents who have developed sunburns. Patients and methods. An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out using a voluntary anonymous written and self-reported survey addressed to adolescent athletes aged 11 to 18 years, who participated in a competitive sporting activity. Results. The study included 554 adolescents. The 26% reported to have taken sunscreen to the competition. The 5.2% reported to have used it on a routine basis during training, and the 6.1% while doing sports. The 45% of the adolescents referred that sun protection factor rating was not relevant to them. Males most frequently inclined to believe that a good suntan was synonymous of health and women believed that suntan was synonymous of beauty. Most adolescents (73%) had developed at least one sunburn in the previous summer. Conclusions. In this study, a low compliance with the use of sunscreen was observed in adolescent athletes, despite the high rates of sunburns they had had recently. Nowadays, sun protection campaigns addressed to this age group are urgently needed.