Sun protection in renal transplant recipients: Urgent need for education

Background. Renal transplant recipients (RTR) are considered as a high-risk group of skin cancer development. Objective: The aim of the present study was to find out the knowledge about the harmfulness of sunlight and the methods of sun protection among RTR. Material and Methods: 151 RTR (91 males and 60 females) were surveyed using a specially designed questionnaire. Results: The knowledge about the danger of sunlight exposure among RTR appeared to be very unsatisfactory. Only 40.4% of patients knew that the development of skin cancer is connected with the exposure to sunlight. Moreover, only 68.2% of investigated individuals considered RTR as a high-risk group of skin cancer development. Although 74.8% of patients were informed about the necessity of sun protection, only 11.3% could explain what the number of the SPF (sun protection factor) means. Females significantly more often knew that RTR are especially predisposed to the development of skin cancers (p = 0.0001) and significantly more frequently could explain what the SPF number means (p = 0.006). 72.8% of RTR (females significantly more often, p = 0.02) made efforts to avoid sunlight irradiation. However, only 5.3% of the examined patients routinely used creams with SPF (females significantly more often, p < 0.0001). More than a half of the patients (62.3%) did not apply any sun protection. Conclusions: The present study revealed the urgent necessity of education concerning the harmfulness of sunlight and the methods of sun protection among RTR. Moreover, it is postulated that every patient should be routinely examined by a dermatologist in a dedicated transplant patient clinic. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.