Level of education and the risk of malignant melanoma

Background: The risk for the development of malignant melanoma has been reported to be higher in persons with more formal education than in individuals with less. Objective: To study whether those with more formal education are indeed at more risk for malignant melanoma than those with less formal education. Methods: This case-control study explores the relation between education and melanoma risk by analyzing data collected by the American Cancer Society. A total of 1.2 million people were surveyed for a history of cancer and followed up for 6 years for the development of any cancer. In total, 2780 white persons had a history of malignant melanoma or developed malignant melanoma during the study period. The controls were age-, sex-, and geographically matched white persons selected from the remaining people enrolled. Results: Both men and women were shown to have a statistically significant increase in the relative risk for malignant melanoma with increasing education level (p < 0.001 and p = 0.001, respectively). This relation was more striking in men when the relative risk with 95% confidence interval was calculated by sex for each education level. Conclusion: Americans with more formal education are at greater risk for malignant melanoma than those with less education.