Report of an association between discoid lupus erythematosus and smoking

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.