Skin sun-acne tutorial evaluation among middle- and high-school students in central New Jersey

Background: Because of the perception that a tan is healthy and attractive, it has been difficult to educate adolescents about sun protection. Objective: We sought to examine whether the skin sun-acne tutorial, an hour-long, hands-on educational intervention that combined acne education with sun-protection education, increased knowledge of skin care, sun protection, and acne. Methods: In all, 1214 middle- and high-school students were taught, tested, and surveyed. Outcomes were determined based on comparing performance on a pretest and posttest. Results: All students, regardless of sex, ethnicity, age, or race, improved significantly from their pretest to posttest scores (P < .001). Limitations: This study only used one health educator and was restricted to public schools in central New Jersey. Conclusions: The skin sun-acne tutorial significantly improved knowledge of skin care including knowledge of sun protection and acne among students of different grades, sexes, ages, ethnicities, and races.