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

• Published in: Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 112 - 116
• Main Authors: Nahar, Vinayak K., Rosenthal, Meagen, Lemon, Stephenie C., Kane, Kevin, Cheng, Jie, Oleski, Jessica L., Li, Wenjun, Hillhouse, Joel J., Pagoto, Sherry L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.03.2018
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Beauty Culture; communities; Female; geographic information systems; high schools; Humans; indoor tanning; Male; Massachusetts - epidemiology; skin cancer; Skin Neoplasms - epidemiology; Skin Neoplasms - etiology; Skin Neoplasms - prevention & control; Suburban Population; Sunbathing; Urban Population; high schools; skin cancer; geographic information systems; indoor tanning; communities
• ISSN: 0905-4383; 1600-0781
• DOI: 10.1111/phpp.12364

Summary 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 & 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.