Gender Differences in Indoor Tanning Habits and Location.

To the Editor: In 2013, 1.9 million US men reported tanning indoors.1Guy G.P. Berkowitz Z. Holman D.M. Hartman A.M. Recent changes in the prevalence of and factors associated with frequency of indoor tanning among US adults.JAMA Dermatol. 2015; 151: 1256Crossref PubMed Scopus (58) Google Scholar Existing research largely targets teen and young adult female tanners, and less is known about male tanning behavior. Using Survey Sampling International, we recruited a nationally representative sample of 773 adults who intend to use or used an indoor tanning bed. Participants reporting a lifetime history of tanning indoors (n = 636, 33.5% male) were included. The survey measured tanning frequency, tanning dependence, tanning location (salon, nonsalon business, or home), and influences on selection of tanning location (with 1 indicating strong disagreement and 5 indicating strongly agreement). Two or more affirmative responses on the 7-item Behavioral Addiction Indoor Tanning Screener confirmed tanning dependence.2Stapleton J. Hillhouse J. Turrisi R. Baker K. Manne S. Coups E. The Behavioral Addiction Indoor Tanning Screener (BAITS): an evaluation of a brief measure of behavioral addictive symptoms.Acta Derm Venereol. 2016; 96: 552-553Crossref PubMed Scopus (16) Google Scholar Participants were also surveyed about smoking, weekly soda consumption, and binge drinking (5 or more alcoholic beverages within a couple of hours) in the past month. The University of Massachusetts Medical School institutional review board granted ethics approval. Bivariate comparisons were done using χ2 tests, independent samples t tests, and Wilcoxon rank sum tests, as appropriate using SAS/Stat software (version 9.3, SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC). No significant differences were found between men (mean, 6.0; standard deviation [SD], 16.9) and women (mean, 6.0; SD, 22.7) in indoor tanning visits during the past year (P = .58) (Table I). However, men were significantly more likely to meet the Behavioral Addiction Indoor Tanning Screener tanning dependence threshold (49.3% vs 29.6% [P = .001]). Men were more likely to tan in private residences (30.5% vs 19.4% [P = .002]). For factors influencing tanning location selection, men gave significantly higher ratings to the ability to get other services at the same time (3.7 vs 3.3 [P = .004]), ability to tan with fewer rules (3.6 vs 3.2 [P < .001]), and ability to use a tan as a workout reward (3.6 vs 3.3 [P = .002]). Women gave significantly higher ratings to cleanliness (4.3 vs 4.1 [P = .06]) and cost (4.2 vs 3.9 [P = .001]).Table ITanning behavior by sexCharacteristicMen(n = 213)Women(n = 423)P valueFrequency of indoor tanning in past year, mean (SD)6.0 (16.9)6.0 (22.7).58Tanning location.007 Salon only91 (42.7%)217 (51.3%) Nonsalon business57 (26.8%)124 (29.3%) Home tanner65 (30.5%)82 (19.4%)Tanning dependence/behavioral addiction49.3%29.6%