Photoaging factors in patients from two healthcare centers in Colombia

Exposure to solar radiation has been documented as a direct cause of skin changes associated with aging, and its effects have been categorized as photoaging.

To explore the clinical characteristics of photoaging and its relationship with external predisposing factors in a Colombian urban and rural population.

We included 350 patients on outpatient consultation at Clínica Chía in Zipaquirá (rural) and Hospital Universitario Barrios Unidos in Bogotá (urban) in an observational, cross-sectional study with an analytical component included, between 2018 and 2019. A survey was conducted and photographs were taken. A group of experts determined the degree of photoaging.

The majority of respondents worked in closed environments (n = 222). The main sociodemographic variable associated was age (p = 0.000). Factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, use of sunscreen, exercising, and sun exposure were also associated with scale progression (p < 0.05). Exercising (odds ratio (OR) 0.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3-0.9) and being from Bogotá (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.2-0.9) appeared as protective factors. Smoking (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.0-2.6) was defined as a risk factor.

Changes related to photoaging and photocarcinogenesis are associated with sun exposure. However, there are environmental factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, woman's age at first delivery, and number of children, among others, that affect the degree of photoaging. It is necessary to explore these relationships in higher evidence level studies to define their causality.