America
App to offer real-time sun protection advice
New York, Feb 1
If your job requires you to
stay outdoors for long, having this app on your smartphone that provides
personalised, real-time advice may improve your sun protection
behaviour, says a study.
The Solar Cell app provides
sun-protection advice based on UV (ultraviolet) Index forecasts and
personal information from the users. It also alerts users to apply or
reapply sunscreen.
"The Solar Cell mobile app seemed to promote sun protection practices," the authors noted.
The researchers conducted a clinical trial to evaluate the mobile app by collecting data from a volunteer sample of 202 adults.
Of the 96 participants assigned to use the mobile app, 74 individuals (77 percent) used it.
The
authors found that participants in the group that received the app used
wide-brimmed hats more at the seven-week follow-up than control
participants who did not receive the app (23.8 percent vs. 17.4
percent).
Women who used the app also reported more use of all
sun protection (such as sunscreen, protective clothing and shade)
combined than men (46.4 percent vs. 43.3 percent).
The Solar Cell app was developed by Klein Buendel Inc under a contract with the National Cancer Institute.
The study was published online in the journal JAMA Dermatology.