Objective: In recent years, skin cancer increased with the increase in sun exposure of people all over the world. In this study, we aimed to find out how much people in Turkey know about how to protect themselves from the sun and skin cancer, how they act to protect themselves from the sun and skin cancer, how they feel about sun protection, and how well they understand health issues.

Patients and Methods: This study was designed as a case-control study. This study included 105 patients who were followed up in our clinic with malignant skin diseases (malignant melanoma (MM), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)) between March 2020 and March 2021. Our control group comprised 105 healthy volunteers. This study collected data with a data collection form and the Health Literacy Scale.

Results: The results showed that the mean knowledge level of the control group was higher than that of the case group. Similarly, the mean behavior of protection from sun and skin cancer and mean sun protection attitude is higher in the control group than in the malignant skin diseases group. There is a statistically significant difference between the mean health literacy levels of the malignant skin disease group and the control group. The mean health literacy levels of the malignant skin disease group are lower than the control group. There is a statistically significant effect of health literacy, age, knowledge level of protection from sun and skin cancer, and behavior of protection from sun and skin cancer on the probability of skin cancer.