Volume 32, Issue 4: August, 2005

Abstract

Randomized Trial Testing a Worksite Sun Protection Program in an Outdoor Recreation Industry

David B. Buller, PhD, Peter A. Andersen, PhD, Barbara J. Walkosz, PhD, Michael D. Scott, PhD, Gary R. Cutter, PhD, Mark B. Dignan, PhD, MPH, Elizabeth M. Zarlengo, BS, Jenifer H. Voeks, PhD, and Aimee J. Giese, BA

Health communication campaigns intended to reduce chronic and severe exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight and prevent skin cancer are a national priority. Outdoor workers represent an unaddressed, high-risk population. Go Sun Smart (GSS), a worksite sun safety program largely based on the diffusion-of-innovations theory, was evaluated in a pair-matched, group-randomized, pretest-posttest controlled design enrolling employees at 26 ski areas in Western North America. Employees at the intervention ski areas were more aware of GSS (odds ratio [OR] = 8.27, p < .05) and reported less sunburning (adjusted OR = 1.63, p < .05) at posttest than employees at the control areas. A dose response was evident (OR = 1.46, p < .05) with greater observed program implementation associated with fewer sunburns among employees. Program awareness per se was not predictive (p > .05) of reduced sunburning in a mediational analysis. Analyses of nonrespondents, including intent-to-treat analyses, further supported the success of GSS.