Sunscreen users most worried about skin cancer, sunburn

We asked respondents to our sunscreen survey how worried they were about various consequences of sun exposure. Of these, the largest number of respondents—more than 40 percent of sunscreen users—worried about skin cancer and sunburn, respectively. Only half that number said they worried about wrinkles, age spots, or whether sunscreen ingredients might harm them.

Among all the respondents, those who had had skin cancer or experience with it—a family member or close friend had it, or they had a skin-cancer scare themselves—were more likely to use sunscreen (75 percent and 78 percent, respectively) than people who had no experience with skin cancer (62 percent). People who had been sunburned at least once in the last two years were more likely to use sunscreen when in the sun for two hours or more than those who hadn't burned. And fair-skinned people were most likely to wear sunscreen regardless of how much time they spent outside.