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Smokers report more psoriasis, but not atopic dermatitis or hand eczema: results from a Norwegian population survey among adults.

Bø K, Thoresen M, Dalgard F

Department of Dermatology, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. kristine.bo@rikshospitalet.no

BACKGROUND: Many reports indicate that skin diseases are affected by lifestyle factors. OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between reported skin diagnoses, smoking and alcohol consumption in an urban population. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaire-based health study among 18,747 adults in Oslo. RESULTS: For current smokers, odds ratio for reporting psoriasis was 1.49 (95% CI 1.11-2.00) for males, and 1.48 (95% CI 1.15-1.91) for females, as compared to never smokers. There was no association between reported atopic dermatitis or hand eczema and smoking. High consumption of cigarettes was associated with an increased reporting of psoriasis in men, but not women. Reporting drinking alcohol 4-7 times per week was crudely associated with reporting psoriasis in men, but not in the adjusted model. CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoking was associated with reported psoriasis, but not with atopic dermatitis or hand eczema.

Published 22 November 2007 in Dermatology, 216(1): 40-5.
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