The National Farm Medicine Center has released results of a skin cancer screening that checked for signs of skin cancer and asked questions about sun protection and exposure. Scott Heiberger is Managing Editor for the Journal of Agromedicine. He says the screening was designed to specifically collect information about farmers.
Heiberger says the study found that farmers are at a greater risk for skin cancer because of their occupation and lack of protection.
He says that many of the farmers that were screened reported that wearing long sleeves and wide-brimmed hats are inconvenient for their jobs. The number one response, however, can be fixed with a little education and more reminders.
Heiberger says knowing the causes of those barriers can help doctors and educators a target area to focus on in order to lower the number of farmers experiencing problems with skin damage and cancer.