Measuring the stringency of states' indoor tanning regulations: instrument development and outcomes.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
We sought to describe the development of an instrument to quantify the stringency of state indoor tanning legislation in the United States, and the instrument's psychometric properties. The instrument was then used to rate the stringency of state laws.

METHODS:
A 35-item instrument was developed. An overall stringency measure and 9 stringency subscales were developed, including one measuring minors' access to indoor tanning. Stringency measures showed good internal consistency and interrater reliability.

RESULTS:
In all, 55% of the 50 states and the District of Columbia had any indoor tanning law, and 41% had any law addressing minors' access. Oregon, Illinois, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Rhode Island had high overall stringency scores, and Texas and New Hampshire were the most restrictive with regard to minors' access.

LIMITATIONS:
Measurement of actual enforcement of the laws was not included in this study.

CONCLUSIONS:
The instrument appears to be an easy-to-use, reliable, and valid methodology. Application of the instrument to actual laws showed that, in general, state laws are relatively weak, although there was considerable variability by state.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Woodruff, Susan I (SI); Pichon, Latrice C (LC); Hoerster, Katherine D (KD); Forster, Jean L (JL); Gilmer, Todd (T); Mayer, Joni A (JA);

Affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, CA 92123, USA. swoodruff(-atsign-)projects.sdsu.edu

Grants: K05CA10051 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; R01CA093532-S1 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS) ; R01CA93532 (Agency:NCI NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Validation Studies

Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (J Am Acad Dermatol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-May; vol 56 (issue 5) : pp 774-80

Dates: Created 2007/04/17; Completed 2007/04/24; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 17276543, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Beauty Culture - legislation & jurisprudence
Government Regulation
Heliotherapy - instrumentation
Humans

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.