Emergency Department Visits for Indoor Tanning Bed Injuries

An average of 3000 injuries per year resulted in visits to U.S. EDs between 2003 and 2012.

The FDA recently reclassified indoor tanning devices that emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation from low risk (class I) to moderate risk (class II). This action was prompted primarily by data showing that indoor tanning bed use is linked to both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Tanning bed use can also result in acute adverse effects, but little information has been published on such incidence.

In an analysis of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–All Injury Program comprising data from 66 U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs), investigators identified an annual average of 3234 tanning bed injuries requiring ED visits between 2003 and 2012. They noted a statistically significant decline during those 10 years — fr…

Reviewing Author

Craig A. Elmets, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory board Astellas Pharmaceuticals

EquityVaxin

Grant / Research support NIH; NIH/NCI; Veteran’s Administration; Ferndale Laboratories; Kyowa Hakko Kirin Pharma, Inc.

Editorial boards Cancer Prevention Research; Photodermatology, Photoimmunology, & Photomedicine; UpToDate; eMedicine; Journal of Dermatological Sciences; JAMA Dermatology

Leadership positions in professional societies American Academy of Dermatology (Vice Chair, Committee on Science and Research); Photomedicine Society (Board of Directors)