Golf can double the risk of skin cancer, study shows
Playing golf may increase the risk of skin cancer, a study suggests.
Researchers in Australia found that more than a quarter of regular golfers have been diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in their lives.
After adjusting for other risk factors such as age, gender and smoking status, they found that golfers were two and a half times more likely to be diagnosed than the rest of the population.
They said repeated sun exposure and not wearing enough sunscreen was likely the reason for the higher risk.
In the study, about 27 percent of golf participants had been diagnosed with skin cancer, compared to seven percent of the general population
Researchers at the University of South Australia in Adelaide analyzed health information from an online survey of 336 players that began in 2018.
Only people who played golf at least once a month were included.
The players’ answers were compared to the health information of nearly 16,000 Australians who had taken part in the Australian Health Survey, which takes place every four years.
About 27 percent of golf participants had been diagnosed with skin cancer, compared to seven percent of the general population.
After adjusting for age, gender, education and smoking status, Aussie players were 2.4 times more likely to get skin cancer than their non-golfing peers.
Lead study author Brad Stenner stressed that older golfers may have been exposed to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays before they started playing golf and are only now experiencing the impact.
He also stressed that his team did not collect data on actual levels of exposure to UV radiation (UVR).
Nevertheless, exposure to UVR is a “well-established cause” of skin cancer, Stenner said.
He said his research team found “a significantly higher risk, which we believe is associated with prolonged sun exposure and/or failure to use skin protection strategies.”
Ashani Weeraratna, professor and chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, who was not part of the study, said UPI that “the dynamics should be about the same” for skin cancer risk and sun exposure regardless of location or reason for spending time outdoors.
The findings were published in the journal BMJ Open Sports & Exercise Medicine.
Globally, one in three cancers is skin-related, with about two to three million non-melanoma skin cancers and about 132,000 potentially fatal melanoma skin cancers diagnosed each year.