Smoking has been shown to be associated with many medical disorders, includ
ing many involving the skin, While preliminary studies suggest a modest ass
ociation between smoking and systemic lupus erythematosus, epidemiologic da
ta on discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and smoking are lacking. To study t
his relationship, we examined current smoking habits in two unique patient
populations with DLE. One group was compared with matched dermatology patie
nts while the second group was compared with the corresponding statewide po
pulation. For both groups, the current smoking prevalence was much higher t
han that of the comparison population, For the control-matched group of DLE
patients, smoking prevalence was found to be significantly greater than th
at of controls (odds ratio 12.2; p = 0.001). We therefore propose that smok
ing is a risk factor for development of DLE.