The prevalence of current sunbed use and user characteristics: the SUN-Study 2008

Although sunbed use is common in many developed countries, little is known about the characteristics of sunbed users. The SUN-Study 2008 (Sunbed-Use: Needs for Action-Study 2008) contains data on indoor tanning practices. It has a net sample size of 500 randomly selected 18-45-year-old adults living in Mannheim, Germany. In this sample, current sunbed users were predominantly females, employed, had completed vocational school (or an equivalent certification), were smokers, participated primarily in individual sports and had skin types III or IV. The mean overall prevalence of sun bed use was 21.0%. Our results highlight specific potential risk factors for intervention that should be examined in other settings among different populations.