INTERDEPENDENCE OF EYE AND HAIR COLOR, SKIN TYPE AND SKIN PIGMENTATION IN A CAUCASIAN POPULATION

Eye colour, hair colour and skin colour are important risk factors for malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. There are few studi es in which the distribution of these pigmentary factors in risk popul ations has been assessed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of the major eye and hair colours and the distribution of skin types and skin pigmentation in a Caucasian population, Tn 892 Danish Caucasians, eye colour, hair colour and skin type were assesse d and facultative and constitutive skin pigmentation mere measured obj ectively using skin reflectance spectroscopy. Blue eye colour and blon d hair colour and skin type II were the most frequent (60%, 67% and 33 % of subjects, respectively), All four major eye colours and four majo r hair colours (with the exception of red hair colour) were found with in skin types I-IV and we could not predict the skin type or the const itutive skin pigmentation. Skin type could not be taken to classify in dividuals reliably according to their facultative or constitutive skin pigmentation.