WEDNESDAY, March 20, 2024 -- A wearable ultraviolet (UV) dosimeter may reduce the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer among elderly patients with a history of actinic keratoses (AK), according to a study published online March 1 in Frontiers in Medicine.

Emmanuel L.P. Dumont, Ph.D., from Shade in Nutley, New Jersey, and colleagues conducted a prospective randomized trial involving 97 elderly patients with a history of AK who were followed over six months. Fifty of the patients received a wearable UV dosimeter that provided real-time and cumulative UV exposure as well as UV counseling from a dermatologist, while 47 received only UV counseling from a dermatologist.

More than 75 percent of the participants recorded UV exposure once a week or more during the summer. The researchers found that after six months of intervention, there was a nonsignificant 20 percent lower ratio of incidence rates of AKs when comparing the device group with the control group and a significant 95 percent lower ratio of incidence rates of nonmelanoma skin cancer. There was a significant increase of 1.2 observed in the control groups' score in self-perceived ability to participate in social activities, while the score decreased nonsignificantly, by 0.9, in the device group. No changes or between-group differences were seen in anxiety and depression surveys.

"The clinical advantages observed in this pilot study indicate that using wearable UV sensors could enhance traditional UV-prevention strategies," the authors write.

Several authors are shareholders of Shade, a startup manufacturing wearable UV sensors and the sponsor of this clinical trial.