eScholarship@UMMS

Title

Youth access to indoor tanning salons in urban versus rural/suburban communities

Authors

Vinayak K. Nahar, Lincoln Memorial University
Meagen Rosenthal, University of Mississippi
Stephenie C. Lemon, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Kevin J. Kane, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Jie Cheng, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Jessica L. Oleski, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Wenjun Li, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Joel J. Hillhouse, East Tennessee State University
Sherry L. Pagoto, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow

UMMS Affiliation

UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center; Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Medicine

Publication Date

2018-3

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Behavioral Medicine | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Dermatology | Preventive Medicine | Public Health | Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Abstract

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Research suggests that youth proximity to tanning salons may promote use; however, little is known about tanning salon proximity to schools. We assessed the proximity of tanning salons to schools in urban versus rural/suburban communities across Worcester County, Massachusetts (population > 800K). To put findings in context, we compared school proximity to tanning salons to school proximity to McDonald's restaurants, a large franchise that also caters to young people.

MATERIALS and METHODS: Accessibility was measured by ArcGIS 10.2 Network Analyzer (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA) and the most current road network data layer from Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

RESULTS: A total of 145 schools were observed in the study area, of which about 39% of schools were within 1 mile from a tanning salon. Urban schools (53.41%) had a higher proportion within 1 mile of a tanning salon than rural/suburban schools (17.54%; P < .001). More schools (39.31%) were within 1 mile of a tanning salon than schools within 1 mile of a McDonald's (22.70%; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS: Schools may be particularly impactful for implementing skin cancer prevention programing.

Keywords

communities, geographic information systems, high schools, indoor tanning, skin cancer

DOI of Published Version

10.1111/phpp.12364

Source

Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2018 Mar;34(2):112-116. doi: 10.1111/phpp.12364. Epub 2017 Dec 12. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Photodermatology, photoimmunology and photomedicine

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

29080373

Repository Citation

Nahar VK, Rosenthal M, Lemon SC, Kane KJ, Cheng J, Oleski JL, Li W, Hillhouse JJ, Pagoto SL. (2018). Youth access to indoor tanning salons in urban versus rural/suburban communities. UMass Worcester PRC Publications. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpp.12364. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/prc_pubs/75