sults of this effort have been mixed. However, studies such as that by Stephenson, From, Cohen, and Tipping (1997) demonstrated that a hands-on teaching demonstration was effective in assisting physicians with detection of melanoma.
Thus research has shown the importance of early detection of melanoma and the usefulness and need for interventions that increase the ability for this detection in health care professionals. The purpose of this research study was to examine the effects of an instructional intervention on the detection of melanoma. The findings demonstrated the importance and efficacy of the intervention and provided information to help direct future studies for the health care system.
The hypothesis is as follows: The instructional intervention will have a significant effect on the detection of melanoma.
Melanoma. Melanoma is defined as a "proliferation of transformed melanocytes or pigment-producing cells" (Goldstein & Goldstein, 2001, p. 1359).
Melanoma is defined as a "proliferation of transformed melanocytes or pigment-producing cells" (Goldstein & Goldstein, 2001, p. 1359). It primarily occurs on the skin but can be found in other tissues with pigment cells. For women, melanomas tend to occur on the lower extremities and in men they tend to be found on the trunk. It is considered an adult disease. Incidence has increased more than for any other cancer and in 1999, 44.200 Americans developed invasive melanoma and 7.300 died. Risk factors include skin type (whites have a 10-fold increase in incidence compared to blacks), sunburn history, nonmelanoma skin cancer, multiple nevi, giant congenital nevi, atypical/dysplastic nevi, history of changing mole, heredity, tanning bed use, and immunosupression. Types of melanomas include lentigo maligna, superficial spreading, nodular, acral-lentiginous, and amelanotic. Diagnosis includes warning signs and symptoms and biopsy for confirmation with a patholog...