[Skin aging and smoking]

Facial wrinkling is a marker of skin ageing. The association between smoking and facial wrinkling has been previously studied. Nevertheless, there are no reports assessing the role of sun exposure and smoking in an area with a great proportion of sunny days. Smoking habits were investigated in 282 healthy individuals. Facial wrinkles were measured according to the Daniell scale at the external canthus. A logistic regression model was developed controlling for age, sex, sun exposure, smoking habit and searching for the interaction between sun exposure and smoking. A statistically significant risk was found for smoking habit (OR = 3.1; 95% CL 1.28-7.76; p = 0.008), sun exposure (OR = 1.50; 95% Cl 1.25-1.80; p = 0.05), and age (OR = 1.18; 95% Cl 1.13-1.23; p = 0.024) for facial wrinkling. These results show the evidence of an accelerated skin ageing in smokers. A clear explanation given to smokers could be a useful strategy to persuade them to leave smoking.