Sunburn and sun protection in black skin

Abstract

Background People with black skin are much less susceptible to sunburn than white‐skinned individuals, yet there are scarce data on self‐reported incidence of sunburn and sun protection measures in people with deeply‐pigmented skin. Method An on‐line survey tool was used to collect self‐assessed data about demographic variables, sunburn incidence, and use of sun protection modalities. Results Two‐thirds of respondents with black skin living in the UK claimed never to have been sunburnt; a much higher proportion than those living in South Africa and Nigeria where 34 and 46%, respectively, reported never experiencing sunburn. Similar results were seen in the reported use of sun protection measures between the countries with two‐thirds of black people living in the UK claiming they never used any form of sun protection compared with about one‐third of Black Africans. Black people living in the UK were more likely to use sunscreen as a form of sun protection, whereas sunscreen was the least popular modality in the two African countries with shade being the most common form of limiting sun exposure. Conclusion The findings provide some insight into the complexities of skin color perception, incidence of sunburn, and sun protection use among people with deeply‐pigmented skin living in three countries with large differences in the solar UV environment.

Sunburn Prevalence is Underestimated in UK-Based People of African Ancestry

“…However, when this question is expanded to investigate lifetime risk, as little as 34% of Black South Africans, in a survey by Diffey et al, reported never experiencing sunburn before. 11 In the same survey, Diffey et al also found that 66% of their UK-based respondents reported never experiencing sunburn before. In our survey, 52.4% of included respondents had experienced sunburn over their lifetime compared to 47.6% who had not.…”

“… 20 , 21 The reasons for this are likely to be multifactorial, as previous authors have demonstrated discrepancies in the understanding of: (i) what constitutes sunburn; 22 , 23 (ii) the harmful effects of UV radiation; 24 and (iii) benefits of sunscreen. 24 Factors affecting the choice of sun protection modality may also provide useful insight, 11 , 25 as well as acknowledging that sunscreens have additional uses beyond sunburn avoidance. The lack of visibility of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in Western sunscreen advertising is likely to play a role.…”

“…Power and sample size calculations were performed in order to detect differences from previously published data. These calculations were based on work by Diffey et al, 11 who found that 62 of 94 (66%) UK-based individuals, who “identified as having black skin”, had never experienced sunburn. Assuming the maximum number of people who may have experienced sunburn to be 32 (34%), we expected to find at least this frequency in our own study but wanted to be able to detect a difference of at least 20%.…”

Recent advances in sunscreen agents and their formulations: A review

“…People with black skin (Skin type V and Skin type VI) are much less susceptible to sunburn than white skinned individuals. 10 On the other hand, they are extremely susceptible to actinic damage and develop precancerous and cancerous lesions (Figure 1 f) very quickly. 11 Fig.…”

Skin cancers in skin types IV–VI: Does the Fitzpatrick scale give a false sense of security?

“…There are studies that show that sunburn amongst darker skin is much more common than previously thought. 10,11 There has been an epidemic of skin cancer rising in prevalence and incidence amongst the lighter skinned populations in the Western world and almost certainly a slower concomitant rise amongst darker skinned populations as well but this is not reflected in skin cancer registries which are nearly non-existent in less-developed countries.…”