Question explored with the scientific record
Conversation so far
- 1 Sunscreen has usage has increased significantly the past 3-4 decade while skin cancer rates have also gone up. If sunscreen is supposed to stop skin cancer why is this?
- 2 But skin cancer was really not used before the rates all of sudden increase. We sued to send a lot more time being exposed ot sunlight so it doesn't make sense that rates rise now.
- 3 isnt there a very large Australin study that show outdoor workers who are exposed to sunlight every day had less risk or melanoma than outdoor workers
- 4 what about all cause mortality as it relates to UV ecxpsore versus no explosure
- 5 what ab out this study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39094281/
Answered on this page ↓
what ab out this study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39094281/
The short version: this study does not examine all-cause mortality at all. It is about sunscreen knowledge and attitudes in Indonesian high school students.
The study you linked (PubMed 39094281) is a 2024 cross-sectional survey of 286 students at one school in West Bandung, Indonesia [4]. It measured how much they knew about sunscreen and whether their attitude toward using it was positive or negative. That is the entire scope. There is no mortality data, no UV exposure measurement, no health outcome tracked over time. It is a knowledge-and-attitudes survey, not an epidemiological study.
The retrieval contains no study that directly compares all-cause death in people who use sunscreen versus people who do not. The closest thing is a 2021 Norwegian cohort of offshore petroleum workers that found frequent sunscreen users had a higher melanoma risk, but the authors attribute that to confounding (people who burn easily use more sunscreen) [7]. That is the opposite of a mortality benefit. A 2009 trial in organ transplant recipients found sunscreen reduced new squamous cell carcinomas to zero versus eight in controls [10], but that is a single cancer type in a high-risk group, not all-cause death.
| What the study actually tests | What it found |
|---|---|
| Knowledge of sunscreen among Indonesian students | 44.8% had "less" knowledge, 44.1% "enough", 11.2% "good" [4] |
| Attitude toward sunscreen among same students | 64.3% had positive attitude [4] |
| All-cause mortality from UV exposure | Not studied in any record here |
My call: this study tells you nothing about whether UV exposure or sunscreen changes how long you live. It is a survey of what teenagers know. Confidence: high that the study does not answer the mortality question.
Sources used 3
-
Sunscreen: Assessing Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Sunscreen Usage Among Students for Skin Cancer Prevention
A descriptive cross-sectional study in Indonesia assessing sunscreen knowledge and attitudes among 286 high school students, revealing widespread insufficient knowledge about sunscreen for skin cancer prevention but generally positive attitudes, with women showing higher knowled…
DOI: 10.37899/journallamedihealtico.v5i5.1650 -
Ultraviolet radiation and risk of cutaneous melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma in males and females in the Norwegian Offshore Petroleum Workers cohort
A large prospective cohort study of 27,772 Norwegian offshore petroleum workers linked self-reported ultraviolet radiation exposure (sunbathing, indoor tanning, sunburn, sunscreen) before and after age 20 to melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma risk (with Breslow thickness analy…
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23240 -
Prevention of non-melanoma skin cancer in organ transplant patients by regular use of a sunscreen: a 24 months, prospective, case-control study
This study investigates the preventive effects of regular sunscreen use on non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) in organ transplant recipients over a 24-month period, demonstrating significant reductions in actinic keratoses and invasive squamous cell carcinoma among those using sun…
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.2009.09453.x