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Editorial
April 2014

Enhancing Skin Cancer Screening Through Behavioral Intervention

Author Affiliations
  • 1Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
JAMA Dermatol. 2014;150(4):363-365. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2013.9311

In this issue of JAMA Dermatology, Janda and colleagues1 report on the results of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of a video-based behavioral intervention aimed at increasing clinical skin examination (CSE) among men 50 years or older in Queensland, Australia. At the 7-month follow-up, men who received informational brochures were as likely as the video intervention group to have obtained a CSE (53% vs 56%, respectively). However, the video intervention group was more likely than controls to self-report a whole-body rather than a partial or spot CSE (35% vs 27%, respectively), to have been asked by their physicians to return for a follow-up examination, to have been diagnosed as having a malignant neoplasm, and to have had surgical management of a lesion. Previously, several large studies conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom concluded that without whole-body examination, many melanoma and nonmelanoma diagnoses would be missed.2,3 Janda and colleagues also report on other correlates of CSE uptake and skin cancer diagnosis.

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