Severe Sunburns and Sunbed Use Risk with Cutaneous Melanoma: A Case–Control Study in Lithuania †
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Data Collection
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| AMN | Atypical Melanocytic Nevi |
| CI | Confidence Interval |
| CM | Cutaneous Melanoma |
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic Acid |
| IBM SPSS | International Business Machines Statistical Package for the Social Sciences |
| LSMU | Lithuanian University of Health Sciences |
| LSMUL KK | Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno Klinikos (Hospital of LSMU) |
| MN | Melanocytic Nevi |
| OR | Odds Ratio |
| ROS | Reactive Oxygen Species |
| SD | Standard Deviation |
| SPF | Sun Protection Factor |
| UV | Ultraviolet |
| χ2 | Chi-Square |
References
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| Characteristics | Control Group | Case Group | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| N = 182 | N = 180 | ||
| Sex, % (n) | |||
| Male | 37.9 (69) | 37.2 (67) | 0.892 |
| Female | 62.1 (113) | 62.8 (113) | |
| Total | 182 | 180 | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | |||
| Male | 57.97 (8.20) | 60.70 (13.50) | 0.155 |
| Female | 57.34 (7.83) | 58.88 (11.89) | 0.249 |
| Total | 57.58 (7.95) | 59.56 (12.51) | 0.072 a |
| Number of melanocytic nevi, median (range) | |||
| Diameter 2–5 mm | 4 (0–131) | 19.5 (0–194) | <0.001 b |
| Diameter ≥ 5 mm | 0 (0–25) | 3 (0–51) | <0.001 b |
| Number of MN > 2 mm across varying sun-exposure areas, median (range) | |||
| Minimal | 0 (0–40) | 1 (0–28) | <0.001 b |
| Intermittent or maximal | 5 (0–135) | 23 (0–188) | |
| Freckles on face, shoulders, and dorsal surface of the hands, % (n) | |||
| <30 | 64.3 (117) | 42.8 (77) | <0.001 |
| ≥30 | 35.7 (65) | 57.2 (103) | |
| Skin colour, % (n) | |||
| Fair | 30.2 (54) | 48.6 (87) | <0.001 |
| Medium/olive | 69.8 (125) | 51.4 (92) | |
| Hair colour, % (n) | |||
| Blond/red | 10.1 (18) | 16.8 (30) | 0.069 |
| Light brown | 41.9 (75) | 45.3 (81) | |
| Dark brown/black | 48.0 (86) | 38.0 (68) | |
| Eye colour, % (n) | |||
| Blue/grey | 66.7 (118) | 65.9 (118) | 0.863 |
| Green | 19.2 (34) | 21.2 (38) | |
| Brown | 14.1 (25) | 12.8 (23) | |
| Skin type (Fitzpatrick scale), % (n) | |||
| Type I/Type II | 44.7 (80) | 41.3 (74) | 0.552 |
| Type III/Type IV | 55.3 (99) | 58.7 (105) | |
| Biological parent with ≥50 pigmented moles, % (n) | |||
| At least one | 31.7 (40) | 32.9 (46) | 0.847 |
| Neither | 68.3 (86) | 67.1 (94) | |
| Tanning bed use (≥1 time), % (n) | |||
| No | 95.6 (174) | 82.8 (149) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 4.4 (8) | 17.2 (31) | |
| Not using sunscreen outside on sunny days, % (n) | |||
| Yes | 66.7 (118) | 88.1 (156) | <0.001 |
| No | 33.3 (59) | 11.9 (21) | |
| Time spent daily at the beach while vacationing, % (n) | |||
| <2 h | 41.4 (70) | 23.9 (38) | <0.001 |
| ≥2 h | 58.6 (99) | 76.1 (121) | |
| Number of sunburns, median (range) | 0 (0–6) | 2 (0–6) | <0.001 b |
| Variable | B | Odds Ratio | 95% Confidence Interval | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Bound | Upper Bound | ||||
| Tanning bed use (≥1 time) | 1.87 | 6.46 | 1.89 | 0.004 | |
| 22.96 | |||||
| Not using sunscreen outside on sunny days | 2.003 | 7.41 | 2.88 | <0.001 | |
| 19.09 | |||||
| Number of sunburns | 0.946 | 2.57 | 1.96 | <0.001 | |
| 3.38 | |||||
| MN >2 mm located in areas of intermittent or maximal sun exposure | 0.051 | 1.05 | 1.03 | <0.001 | |
| 1.07 | |||||
| Fair skin colour | 0.722 | 2.06 | 1.03 | 0.040 | |
| 4.09 | |||||
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© 2025 by the authors. Published by MDPI on behalf of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Butrimas, G.; Šemeklis, L.; Paukštaitienė, R.; Dubinskaitė, A.; Janonytė, U.; Lukšienė, D.; Valiukevičienė, S. Severe Sunburns and Sunbed Use Risk with Cutaneous Melanoma: A Case–Control Study in Lithuania. Medicina 2025, 61, 1941. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina61111941
Butrimas G, Šemeklis L, Paukštaitienė R, Dubinskaitė A, Janonytė U, Lukšienė D, Valiukevičienė S. Severe Sunburns and Sunbed Use Risk with Cutaneous Melanoma: A Case–Control Study in Lithuania. Medicina. 2025; 61(11):1941. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina61111941
Chicago/Turabian StyleButrimas, Grinvydas, Lukas Šemeklis, Renata Paukštaitienė, Augustė Dubinskaitė, Ugnė Janonytė, Dalia Lukšienė, and Skaidra Valiukevičienė. 2025. "Severe Sunburns and Sunbed Use Risk with Cutaneous Melanoma: A Case–Control Study in Lithuania" Medicina 61, no. 11: 1941. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina61111941
APA StyleButrimas, G., Šemeklis, L., Paukštaitienė, R., Dubinskaitė, A., Janonytė, U., Lukšienė, D., & Valiukevičienė, S. (2025). Severe Sunburns and Sunbed Use Risk with Cutaneous Melanoma: A Case–Control Study in Lithuania. Medicina, 61(11), 1941. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina61111941

