A Meta-analysis of Sun Protective Measures, Cutaneous Injuries, and Cutaneous Illnesses in Sailors

Authors

  • Ryan Scheinkman Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
  • Samantha Verling Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
  • Sarah Antonevich Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
  • Matt Kim Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
  • Eran Gwillim Scripps Institute, USA

Keywords:

Dermatology, Sailing, Tinea, Sunburn

Abstract

Background: There are two million sail boats registered globally and 841 injuries were reported by the US Coast Guard between 2000-2011 indicating sailings popularity and inherent medical risk. Studies have looked at sun protective measures, sunburns, sailing injuries, or sailing illnesses. However, as of yet, a meta-analysis analyzing all these factors in relation to dermatological conditions has not been performed. To ascertain incidence of hat use, sunscreen use, clothing covering arms/legs, sunburns, lacerations, abrasions, blisters, folliculitis, cellulitis, or tinea among sailors to determine the epidemiology of these factors and guide clinical management, a meta-analysis of these factors was performed. Methods: A PubMed literature review was performed using the following search terms: “medicine,” “photoprotective,” “blisters,” “lacerations,” “cellulitis,” “sunscreen,” “cancer,” “UV,” “injuries,” “illness,” “tinea,” and “folliculitis” with “sailing and relevant articles (excluding case reports and articles with an in determinant time frame of injury/illnesses) were tabulated to find total incidence rates. Results: In our analysis of studies that covered sun protective measures, we found a total 2273 sailors across various skill levels had the following reported metrics:  a sunburn incidence of 630/2273 (27.7%) within a year or after race, sunscreen usage ratio of 1393/1703 (81.8%), hat usage ratio of 85/487 (17.5%), and protective shirt/pants (cover arms and legs) usage ratio of 49/487 (10.1%). After combining the meta-analyses from Nathanson et al. with more studies specific to cutaneous illnesses (1231 total) and injuries (3414 total) in Sailors, we found the incidence of blisters of 22/1699 (1.3%), laceration and abrasions of (655/3414) 19.2%, cellulitis of 14/1231 (1.1%), tinea of 41/1231 (3.3%), and folliculitis of 50/1231 (4.1%). Conclusion: We found that although over 80% of participating sailors wore sunscreen, less than a fifth wore adequate protective clothing (hats, clothing covering arms/legs) considering the outdoor nature of the sport indicating the role clinician advising could provide to educate sailors about sun protection. Additionally, sailors reported 655 injuries that were lacerations/abrasions indicating measures should be investigated to minimize these injuries. Limitations in this meta-analysis include the time frame of included studies, case reports, and the focus on PubMed articles. However, we determined that these criteria would best enable us to quantify incidence rates.

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Published

2026-08-18

How to Cite

Scheinkman, R., Verling, S., Antonevich, S., Kim, M., & Gwillim, E. (2026). A Meta-analysis of Sun Protective Measures, Cutaneous Injuries, and Cutaneous Illnesses in Sailors. International Journal of Medical Students. Retrieved from https://ijms.pitt.edu/IJMS/article/view/4549

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Forthcoming

Section

Abstracts of the WCMSR

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Copyright (c) 2026 Ryan Scheinkman, Samantha Verling, Sarah Antonevich, Matt Kim, Eran Gwillim

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