You are here

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Volume 8, Issue 3
  • A skin cancer prevention photoageing intervention for secondary schools in Brazil delivered by medical students: protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

XML
Dermatology
Protocol
A skin cancer prevention photoageing intervention for secondary schools in Brazil delivered by medical students: protocol for a randomised controlled trial
  1. Titus Josef Brinker1,2,3,
  2. Bianca Lisa Faria4,
  3. Martina Gatzka5,
  4. Olber Moreira de Faria4,
  5. Markus V Heppt6,
  6. Michael C Kirchberger7,
  7. Dirk Schadendorf3,
  8. Yasuhiro Nakamura8,
  9. Fabian Buslaff1,2,
  10. Oscar Campos Lisboa9,
  11. Ana Carla Cruz Oliveira4,
  12. Henrique Augusto Lino4,
  13. Breno Bernardes-Souza9
  1. 1 Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
  2. 2 National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), University Hospital Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
  3. 3 Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Allergology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
  4. 4 School of Medicine, University of Itauna, Itauna, Brazil
  5. 5 Department of Dermatology and Allergic Diseases, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
  6. 6 Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University Medical Center Munich, Munich, Germany
  7. 7 Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany
  8. 8 Department of Skin Oncology/Dermatology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
  9. 9 School of Medicine, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil
  1. Correspondence to Titus Josef Brinker; titus.brinker{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Introduction The incidence of melanoma is increasing faster than any other major cancer both in Brazil and worldwide. The Southeast of Brazil has especially high incidences of melanoma, and early detection is low. Exposure to UV radiation represents a primary risk factor for developing melanoma. Increasing attractiveness is a major motivation for adolescents for tanning. A medical student-delivered intervention that harnesses the broad availability of mobile phones as well as adolescents’ interest in their appearance may represent a novel method to improve skin cancer prevention.

Methods and analysis We developed a free mobile app (Sunface), which will be implemented in at least 30 secondary school classes, each with 21 students (at least 30 classes with 21 students for control) in February 2018 in Southeast Brazil via a novel method called mirroring. In a 45 min classroom seminar, the students’ altered three-dimensional selfies on tablets are ‘mirrored’ via a projector in front of their entire class, showing the effects of unprotected UV exposure on their future faces. External block randomisation via computer is performed on the class level with a 1:1 allocation. Sociodemographic data, as well as skin type, ancestry, UV protection behaviour and its predictors are measured via a paper–pencil questionnaire before as well as at 3 and 6 months postintervention. The primary end point is the group difference in the 30-day prevalence of daily sunscreen use at a 6-month follow-up. Secondary end points include (1) the difference in daily sunscreen use at a 3-month follow-up, (2) if a self-skin examination in accordance with the ABCDE rule was performed within the 6-month follow-up and (3) the number of tanning sessions.

Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the University of Itauna. Results will be disseminated at conferences and in peer-reviewed journals.

Trial registration number NCT03178240; Pre-results.

  • dermatology
  • preventive medicine
  • epidemiology
  • public health

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018299

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Contributors TJB initiated the study, invented, designed and organised the intervention, wrote the manuscript, drafted the design of the study and will perform the statistical analyses. BB-S participated in the conception of the study. MVH, MCK, YN, MG, FB and DS contributed to the design of the study and data analyses and proof-read the manuscript. BB-S and OCL contributed to the design and logistics of the study, assisted with the translation of classroom materials and reviewed the final version of the manuscript. BLF, OMdF, HAL and ACCO will conduct data entry and coordinate/conduct the intervention in Brazil. They also supported the translation of the classroom materials and proof-read the manuscript. All authors declare responsibility for the data and findings presented and have full access to the final trial dataset.

    • Funding The tablets are funded by the Young Research Award Research Grant from La Fondation La Roche Posay awarded to TJB for his research on the Sunface app. The University of Itauna will contribute by providing logistic support for the project and copies of all questionnaires.

    • Disclaimer La Fondation La Roche Posay (LA FONDATION LA ROCHE-POSAY, Att : Cécile Voletm 62 quai Charles Pasqua, 92300 LEVALLOIS PERRET, France) and the University of Itauna Funding Board had no role in the design and conduction of this study or in the preparation, review or approval of this manuscript.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Ethics approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the University of Itauna.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.