MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Suzanne Dobbinson PhD Senior Research Fellow Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Cancer Council Victoria  Melbourne Australia MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Dobbinson: Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world due to the country’s high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and a population with susceptible skin types. Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70, with more than 40,000 new cases annually in the state of Victoria alone. Since the 1980s there have been broad public education programs to raise awareness of skin cancer. Television campaigns have been central to these multi-component prevention programs, including SunSmart, which is the longest-running program in Victoria. This study examined SunSmart television advertisements broadcast over summers between 1987 to 2011 to determine what effect – if any – these advertisements had on people’s sun protection attitudes and behaviours. Cross-sectional weekly telephone surveys of Melbourne residents were conducted over summers during the study period. Population exposure to campaign TV advertisements was also measured as cumulated weekly target audience rating points (TARPs) for 4 weeks prior to interview. Using multiple logistic and linear regression models, we examined whether there was a relationship between the TARPs and responses of the surveys. We found that increasing TARPs were related to an increased preference for no tan, increased sunscreen use and overall reduced mean percentage of skin exposed to the sun. Also of note was that this behavioural impact was consistent across all age groups. (more…)