Need for patient education and better physician-patient communication in melanoma patients: Behaviors and knowledge of melanoma patients/Melanom hastalarinin melanom hakkinda egitim ve daha iyi hasta-hekim iletisimi ihtiyaci

Background and Design: Melanoma is a serious type of cancer. Patients previously diagnosed with melanoma are at an increased risk of a second melanoma. Therefore, it is important to know and apply preventive measures. This study aimed to examine melanoma patients' behaviors of sun protection and skin self-examination (SSE), knowledge on risk factors, and communication with their physicians about the disease. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 65 melanoma patients to assess knowledge of melanoma and sun protection and determine SSE attitudes and patient-physician communication. Results: Sun exposure was a well-known melanoma risk factor (67.7%), but the knowledge level on other risk factors, especially regarding skin, hair, and eye color phenotypes, was low (between, 21.5% and 36.9%). Sunscreen use practice was insufficient (33.8%) and mostly inadequate. The most commonly reported reason for not using sunscreen was not having a habit of sunscreen use (83.7%). Compliance with other sun protection behaviors was variable. Half (50.8%) of the melanoma patients reported that they perform SSE. The most commonly reported reasons for not performing SSE was not knowing its necessity (71.8%). More than one-third (35%) of patients stated that they did not receive information about melanoma from their physicians. Almost all patients who received information from their physicians were informed verbally, and only 4% received written information. Conclusion: Our study highlights the need for a comprehensive education for patients about all aspects of melanoma and strategies to improve patient-physician communication. Barriers to preventive behaviors in melanoma patients may be determined in more detail in larger future studies and the content of education may be planned accordingly. Keywords: Melanoma, knowledge, sun protection, skin self-examination, communication Amac: Melanom en ciddi kanser tiplerinden birisidir. Hastada gecirilmis melanom oykusu olmasi, yeni bir melanom olusumu acisindan risk faktorudur. Bu nedenle koruyucu onlemlerin bilinmesi ve uygulanmasi melanom tanisi alan hastalarda onem arz etmektedir. Bu calismada, melanom tanisi alan hastalarin melanom risk faktorleri hakkinda bilgi duzeyleri, gunesten korunma ve kendi kendine deri muayenesi yapma aliskanliklari ve hekimleri ile melanom hakkinda iletisimlerinin degerlendirilmesi amaclanmistir. Gerec ve Yontem: Kesitsel olarak planlanan calismamiza, melanom ta