Risk attitudes and sun protection behaviour: Can behaviour be altered by using a melanoma genomic risk intervention?

Background: Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is directly associated with melanoma skin cancer, however reducing sun-exposure can be difficult to achieve at a population level.

Methods: Using a genomic risk information behaviour change trial for melanoma prevention, we classified participants as risk-seeking, risk-neutral or risk-averse for domain-specific risk taking (DOSPERT). One-way ANOVA determined the association between socio-demographic characteristics and risk-taking score, and multivariable linear regression ascertained impact of an individual's underlying risk propensity on an objective measure of sun-exposure, standard erythemal dose (SED), at 3-months follow-up.