ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: We examined whether US Postal Service letter carriers who received a sun safety intervention would wear wide-brim hats and sunscreen significantly more often than those who did not receive the intervention. METHODS: We used a 2-group randomized design with 2662 evaluation cohort participants from 70 US postal stations. Evaluations were conducted at baseline, 3 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Questionnaire items assessed occupational use of sun-screen and wide-brim hats. The 2-year sun safety intervention included the provision of wide-brim hats, accessible sunscreen, reminders, and 6 educational sessions. RESULTS: At the 3-month follow-up evaluations, the odds ratio (OR) for regular sun-screen use was 2.8 times higher among the intervention group than among the control group (95% confidence interval [CI]=2.2, 3.5); at the 2-year follow-up evaluations, the rate was still significantly higher (OR=2.0; 95% CI=1.6, 2.6). Intervention group participants also had significantly higher rates of hat use, with the differences remaining consistent across all follow-ups (OR=2.9; 95% CI=2.3, 3.6). CONCLUSIONS: The intervention should be disseminated to postal stations nationwide and possibly to other occupational groups that work outdoors.
Subject(s)
Health Behavior , Health Promotion , Occupational Health Services , Postal Service , Protective Clothing/statistics & numerical data , Skin Neoplasms/prevention & control , Sunlight/adverse effects , Sunscreening Agents/therapeutic use , Adult , California , Female , Health Education , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Primary Prevention , Reminder Systems , Self Efficacy , Skin Neoplasms/etiology , WorkforceABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Few studies assessing sun safety behaviors have used validated survey instruments. Using an observational strategy, this study measured the validity of self-report of occupational sun protection behaviors. METHODS: Postal workers (N = 1,036) self-reported their frequency of protective clothing and sunglasses use during the past 5 workdays on Likert scales ranging from "Never" to "Always". Responses were dichotomized by Always vs. all other responses. Data collectors observed these same behaviors during mail delivery several days before survey administration. Agreement between the two measures was computed. RESULTS: Self-report for all items was significantly related to observed behaviors, with Kappa values in the good to excellent range (Kappas = 0.51-0.83). CONCLUSIONS: For outdoor postal workers, survey items assessing recent occupational use of sun-protective items had high levels of validity.