Wright, Caradee YaelWilkes, MarcusDu Plessis, Johan L.Reeder, Anthony I.2015-12-112015-11Wright, CY, Wilkes, M, Du Plessis, JL & Reeder, AI 2015, 'Self-reported skin colour and erythemal sensitivity vs. objectively measured constitutive skin colour in an African population with predominantly dark skin', Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 315-324.0905-4383 (print)1600-0781 (online)10.1111/phpp.12191http://hdl.handle.net/2263/51141BACKGROUND : Skin colour is an important factor in skin-related diseases. Accurate determination of skin colour is important for disease prevention and supporting healthy sun behaviour, yet such data are lacking for dark skin types. METHODS : Self-perceived, natural skin colour and sun-skin reaction were compared with objectively-measured skin colour among an African population with predominantly dark skin. Unexposed skin of 556 adults (70.1% Black) was measured with a reflectance spectrophotometer to calculate an Individual Typology Angle (°ITA). Participants reported self-perceived skin colour and erythemal sensitivity. RESULTS : There was a strong, positive monotonic correlation between self-reported and measured skin colour (Spearman =0.6438, p<0.001), but only a weak correlation between self-reported erythemal sensitivity and measured skin colour (Spearman =0.2713, p < 0.001). Self-report biases in under- and over-estimation of skin colour were evident. Many participants with „dark brown‟ and „black‟ skin had difficulty classifying erythemal sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS : In Africa, self-reported skin colour could potentially be used in lieu of spectrophotometer measurements, but options for questions on sunburn and tanning require suitable adjustment. Our study provides evidence of range in °ITA values among residents in Africa and reinforces previous results that self-report may be reliable for determining skin colour, but not erythemal sensitivity, for dark skin individuals. (word count: 199 excluding section headings)en© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article : Self-reported skin colour and erythemal sensitivity vs. objectively measured constitutive skin colour in an African population with predominantly dark skin, Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 315-324, 2015. doi :10.1111/phpp.12191. The definite version is available at : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1600-0781.Skin colourErythemal sensitivitySpectrophotometerSelf-reportAfricaPostprint Article