|
 "We’re not surprised that there is more indoor tanning among gay and
bisexual men, compared to straight men, but what is striking is that
the absolute prevalence rivals that of straight women," said lead
author Dr. Howa Yeung.
He and Dr. Suephy Chen, both dermatologists at Emory University in
Atlanta, report in JAMA Dermatology that 5 percent of gay men and
about 7 percent of bisexual men reported tanning in the last year,
compared to less than 2 percent of straight men and about 7 percent
of straight women.
Straight women have historically been considered the highest risk
group for indoor tanning, Yeung told Reuters Health. "We really
haven’t focused on men at all," he added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that as many as
400,000 cases of skin cancer may be related to indoor tanning in the
United States each year, including 6,000 melanomas, which are the
deadliest type of skin cancer.
For the new study, the researchers used 2013 data that asked
Americans about their sexual orientation and how often they used
indoor tanning devices, like sun lamps, sun beds and tanning booths.
Gay and bisexual men were three times and five times, respectively,
more likely than straight men to have tanned indoors within the past
year. What's more they were about five and seven times,
respectively, more likely to tan "frequently" than straight men.
Frequent tanning is the use of indoor tanning devices 10 or more
times within the past year.
Among women, the researchers found no differences between gay,
bisexual and straight women once they accounted for factors known to
influence tanning behaviors, including age, race or ethnicity,
education, income, health insurance status, where the person lives
and her skin cancer history.
[to top of second column] |
The study can't say why gay and bisexual men are more likely to tan
indoors than straight men, but it may involve dissatisfaction with
body image, Yeung said.
"More research needs to be done about why that is the case," he
said.
Yeung also said they can't say whether the increased popularity of
indoor tanning among gay and bisexual men translates into more
cancers, because databases that track cancer don't ask about sexual
orientation.
"With the recent national focus on gay marriage, there is more and
more focus on gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender (LGBT) health,"
Yeung said.
"As a dermatologist, I want to highlight some of these things and
inform the LGBT population so we can improve their skin health," he
added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1W29oA2 JAMA Dermatology, online August 5,
2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
