THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FACIAL WRINKLING AND AIR-FLOW OBSTRUCTION

Background. Similar smoking-related changes in the collagen and elasti n could play a role in the pathogenesis of both skin wrinkling and chr onic airflow obstruction. The hypothesis was tested by analyzing wheth er increased facial wrinkling, especially in smokers, is associated wi th the presence of airflow obstruction. Methods. An age-stratified ran domized sample of the general population comprising 6034 men and 7152 women between 30 and 80 years of age was analyzed. The recording of wr inkling in the crow's foot area of the right eye was performed accordi ng to an earlier described severity score. As an index of airflow obst ruction, we used the ratio between forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity in percent (FEV1/FVC%). Results. Multiple regre ssion analysis comprising current and previous smokers showed that, af ter controlling for age, subjects with highest wrinkle scores had on a verage FEV1/FVC% that was 1.2-1.9% lower than in subjects with lower w rinkle scores. No association between facial wrinkling and airflow obs truction was observed among lifetime nonsmokers. Conclusions. Increase d facial wrinkling is independent of age when associated with airflow obstruction in smokers, but not in never-smokers. The magnitude of thi s association, however, is small.