TY  - JOUR
T1  - Skin cancer knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in the salon: A survey of working hair professionals in houston, texas
AU  - Bailey EE, Marghoob AA, Orengo IF, Testa MA, White VR, Geller AC
Y1  - 2011/10/01
N1  - 10.1001/archdermatol.2011.184
JO  - Archives of Dermatology
SP  - 1159
EP  - 1165
VL  - 147
IS  - 10
N2  - Objective 
                  To determine factors related to the observation of suspicious lesions on the scalp, neck, and face of customers by hair professionals (cosmetologists and barbers).Design 
                  Survey of hair professionals in January 2010.Setting 
                  Single hair professional educational conference.Participants 
                  Hair professionals from a chain of 17 salons in the greater Houston, Texas, area.Main Outcome Measure 
                  Frequency with which hair professionals looked for lesions on their customers' scalp, neck, and face during the previous month.Results 
                  Of 304 surveys distributed to hair professionals, 203 were completed (66.8% response rate). Few hair professionals had received formal skin cancer education (28.1%). Forty-nine percent of hair professionals were  “very ” or  “extremely ” interested in participating in a skin cancer education program. Of responding participants, 37.1% looked at more than 50% of their customers' scalps, 28.8% looked at more than 50% of their customers' necks, and 15.3% looked at more than 50% of their customers' faces for suspicious lesions during the preceding month. Frequency of observation of customers' lesions was associated with hair professionals' self-reported health communication practices (P   <  .001) and personal skin protection practices (P  =  .05) but was not associated with hair professionals' skin cancer knowledge (P  =  .48).Conclusions 
                  This study suggests that hair professionals are looking for suspicious lesions on customers' scalp, neck, and face and are acting as lay skin cancer educators. These results provide evidence that hair professionals would be receptive to skin cancer education and that further investigation into the role of hair professionals in skin cancer prevention and detection campaigns is needed.
SN  - 0003-987X
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archdermatol.2011.184
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archdermatol.2011.184
ER  -