Skincare Study: The States Most/Least Concerned With Sun Safety #Infographic

Published by Web Desk Saturday, May 23, 2020

May is skin cancer awareness month. According to the CDC, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in America, yet a new study found that just 34% of Americans worry about getting it.

Advanced Dermatology recently surveyed over 2,000 Americans and also analyzed Google search trends data to learn which states are the most and least concerned about getting skin cancer.

Let’s examine some of the findings from the report. 40% of Americans say that rarely or never wear sunscreen and more than 70% say that they only wear sunscreen during the warm summer months. Even more alarming, 77% said they only reserve using sunscreen for certain outdoor activities on summer days. 37% reported only wear sunscreen some of the time and only 23% say they wear sunscreen most or all of the time.

So far, we’ve learned that a lot of Americans are not good about applying sunscreen. But when they do apply sunscreen, are they applying sunscreen everywhere or just to the certain posts of their bodies?

Advanced Dermatology asked this question and found that only 46% of Americans admit to applying sunscreen to all parts of their bodies. A majority of Americans (54%) only apply sunscreen to certain parts of their bodies. Advanced Dermatology then asked Americans about which part of their bodies they are most concerned about covering with sunscreen. Listed below are the top responses:

1. Face or scalp (68%) 
2. Neck (10%) 
3. Shoulders or back (17%) 
4. Chest or stomach (2%) 
5. Legs (2%) 

Americans say the average APF used was around SPF 35. What’s alarming is that most Americans say that they wait an average of 43 minutes before applying sunscreen. This is concerning because you can start being impacted by the sun's rays within 15 minutes of being outside and it can take 45 minutes for your body to start absorbing the sunscreen. Because of this, most skincare professions recommend applying sunscreen at least a half an hour before going outside for maximum protection from the sun.

The next part of the survey revolved around sunburns. The survey found that 34% of Americans reported yes to having a sunburn while 66% said they had not had a sunburn within the last year. Of those that responded yes, only 34% said they were worried about contracting skin cancer. This is concerning because as I mentioned above, Skin cancer is the most common form of skin cancer in the United States, affecting more than 4.3 million Americans each year. 

Because of this seemingly lack of concern nationwide, Advanced Dermatology analyzed Google search trends data around common skin cancer searches to see which areas of the country are most impacted and most concerned about skin cancer in the United States. They found that almost half the country (24 states) are not concerned enough about skin cancer, including states like Vermont, Idaho, Delaware, and Montana. All these states have very high rates of skin cancer, but average or low search volume regarding common questions related to skin cancer. On the flip side only 9 states said they were extremely concerned with getting skin cancer. These were states where the rate of skin cancer was very low, but the search volume for questions related to skin cancer was very high. Let’s take a look at the full findings from Advanced Dermatology below.

How concerned is your state about skin cancer?

1. Hawaii – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very high) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
2. Washington – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very high) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
3. Oregon – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very high) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
4. Florida – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very high) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
5. New Jersey – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
6. Connecticut – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
7. Virginia – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
8. Missouri – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Very High) – Concern Level – Extremely Concerned 
9. Utah – Skin Cancer Rate (Very high) – Search Rate (Very High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
10. Minnesota – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Very High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
11. New Hampshire – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Very High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
12. Kentucky – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
13. Maine – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Very High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
14. North Carolina – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
15. Ohio – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
16. Arizona – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
17. Massachusetts – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
18. Wisconsin – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
19. North Dakota – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
20. Rhode Island – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
21. Colorado – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (High) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
22. Indiana – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
23. Michigan – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
24. Tennessee – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
25. Nevada – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned  
26. Louisiana – Skin Cancer Rate (Very low) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
27. New Mexico – Skin Cancer Rate (Very low) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned  
28. Alaska – Skin Cancer Rate (Very low) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned 
29. Texas – Skin Cancer Rate (Very low) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Appropriately Concerned  
30. Vermont – Skin Cancer Rate (Very high) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough  
31. Idaho – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough  
32. Delaware – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
33. Iowa – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Average) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough  
34. Kansas – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
35. Montana – Skin Cancer Rate (High) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
36. Georgia – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
37. Alabama – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
38. South Carolina – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
39. Maryland – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
40. South Dakota – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
41. Pennsylvania – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
42. California – Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
43. Arkansas– Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Very low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
44. Illinois– Skin Cancer Rate (Average) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
45. West Virginia – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
46. Wyoming – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
47. Mississippi – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 
48. New York – Skin Cancer Rate (Low) – Search Rate (Low) – Concern Level – Not concerned enough 

The full report from Advanced Dermatology can be seen in the graphic below.

Infographic by: www.advdermatology.com

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