A new study found that people who use tanning beds — a practice that leads to wrinkles and puts you at a greater risk of skin cancer — also aren’t so good about sun safety when they head outdoors.
Compared with individuals who do not tan indoors, frequent indoor tanners (those who used tanning beds 10 or more times in the past year) are more likely to report that they never or rarely protect their skin from the sun, according to new research published in JAMA Dermatology.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine looked at the national health survey data for 10,262 white, non-Hispanic adults ages 18 to 60. Of the study population — which was 49 percent female with a median age of 39 — a total of 78 people (7 percent) reported having tanned indoors in the past year. Among women ages 18 to 60 years, those who frequently tanned indoors were more likely to report rarely or never using sunscreen, sun protective clothing, or heading for shade on a sunny day.
