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Tobacco smoking contributes little to facial wrinkling
Author(s) -
O'Hare Patricia M.,
Fleischer Alan B.,
D'Agostino Ralph B.,
Feldman Steven R.,
Hinds Martha A.,
Rassette Sheila A.,
McMichael Amy J.,
Williford Phillip M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.1999.tb01003.x
Subject(s) - medicine , confounding , demography , explained variation , tobacco use , stepwise regression , analysis of variance , linear regression , visual analogue scale , surgery , environmental health , statistics , population , mathematics , sociology
Background The potential detrimental effects of tobacco smoking have been widely cited. Tobacco smoking has been linked with facial wrinkling, but some previous studies have failed to take into account a number of potential confounders or were unblinded and thus subjective to bias. Objective This study was designed to determine if there was increased facial wrinkling in smokers directly associated with tobacco usage after controlling for solar risk behavior. Subjects Eighty‐two smokers (<10 cigarettes per day) and 118 non‐smokers (<100 lifetime cigarettes) were recruited. Caucasian participants completed a questionnaire designed to assess demographic variables and other suspected factors related to wrinkling. Methods Three dermatologists, blinded to demographic information, reviewed three photographs of each subject and rated the wrinkling on a 100 mm visual analog scale. Stepwise linear regression was performed on all variables which attained a P < 0.1 level of independent significance. Results Overall the model accounted for 75.4% ( P = 0.0001) of the variance in wrinkling, and predictive variables ( P < 0.02) included age (partial R 2 = 0.69), smoking pack years ( R 2 = 0.04), hours of outdoor work ( R 2 = 0.008), freckling ( R 2 = 0.007), and eye color ( R 2 = 0.004). A second model was created excluding age which accounted for 37.8% of the variance. The predictive variables in the second model ( P < 0.08) included education (partial R 2 = 0.08), smoking pack years ( R 2 = 0.05), hours of outdoor work ( R 2 = 0.03), weight change ( R 2 = 0.02), female sex ( R 2 = 0.02), hours of lifetime sun ( R 2 = 0.03), tanning bed use ( R 2 = 0.01), and sunscreen use ( R 2 = 0.02). Conclusions Smoking may significantly contribute to facial wrinkling, but accounts for only 6% of the explained variance. If there is a role for tobacco smoking in causing wrinkling, this role is a minor one.