Melanoma early detection with thorough skin self-examination: the "Check It Out" randomized trial.
Am J Prev Med
; 32(6): 517-24, 2007 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17533068
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Monthly thorough skin self-examination (TSSE) is an important practice for early melanoma detection that is performed by a small minority of the population.DESIGN:
A randomized trial was conducted to determine whether a multicomponent intervention can increase TSSE performance and to describe the effects on performance of skin surgeries compared with a similar control intervention focused on diet. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:
One thousand three hundred fifty-six patients attending a routine primary care visit in southeastern New England participated in this trial.INTERVENTIONS:
Participants received instructional materials, including cues and aids, a video, and a brief counseling session and (at 3 weeks) a brief follow-up phone call (from a health educator) and tailored feedback letters.MEASURES:
Performance of TSSE assessed by telephone interview and having a surgical procedure performed on the skin were confirmed by examining medical records.RESULTS:
TSSE was performed by substantially more participants at 2, 6, and 12 months in the intervention group than in the control group (55% vs 35%, p<0.0001 at 12 months). We also noted that a substantially higher proportion in the intervention group had skin surgery in the first 6 months (8.0% vs 3.6%, p=0.0005), but there was no difference at 6 to 12 months (3.9% vs 3.3%, p=0.5).CONCLUSIONS:
The TSSE intervention was effective in increasing performance of TSSE, in that it resulted in increased surgery on the skin, and that increase in skin procedures only persisted for 6 months. Intervention to increase TSSE may result in long-term benefit in early detection of melanoma while causing only a short-term excess of skin surgeries.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Self-Examination
/
Early Diagnosis
/
Melanoma
Type of study:
Clinical_trials
/
Diagnostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Am J Prev Med
Journal subject:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2007
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States