A study looking at the skills people need to recognise melanoma skin cancer

This is a study looking at the skills people need to help them recognise skin changes that could lead to melanoma skin cancer and to see if these skills could be improved.

Public awareness campaigns to help people identify skin changes use the ‘ABCD’ format. This provides rules that people can use to work out if they need to go to the doctor to have skin changes looked at. But the researchers think that rules may not be the best way for people to decide if their doctor needs to see a skin change.

The researchers want to test using computer pictures instead. People can match up their skin change with a computer picture to help them decide if they need to go to the doctor. The researchers think that this will be more helpful and so will encourage people to see the doctor sooner.

The aim of this study is to see if matching pictures of skin changes is more useful to people than rules in helping them decide when to see a doctor.

Recruitment

Start 06/09/2010

End 30/09/2012

Phase

Other

Who can enter

You can enter this study if you are at least 16 years old and can spare 30 minutes of your time.

Trial design

This study will recruit about 500 people. The researchers will recruit these people from patients attending the skin clinic at the Lauriston Building, Edinburgh, and their friends and family. They will also ask the staff, and their friends and family, at the University of Edinburgh.

You will watch a short movie on a computer. You can watch it more than once. You do a test to get to know how the computer system works. When you are happy with the way the system works you go on with the study.

The researcher will show you some pictures of skin changes and ask you which ones you think look ‘suspicious’ or ‘worrying’. They may also ask you to score how ‘suspicious’ or ‘worrying’ you think each change is.

The researchers may give you some information about skin changes to look for. You may have to read this information or watch a short video. The researchers may give you this information either before or after seeing the pictures on the computer.

The researchers may also give you a picture of a skin change and ask you to match it up with one of several on the computer.