Does cigarette smoking influence acne?

Introduction: Acne is a common problem in adolescent and young age groups, for which several risk factors have been suggested. One of the risk factors is smoking. In studies on the relationship between smoking and acne, conflicting results have been obtained. Method: This study was conducted on 133 male patients who were visited at the dermatology clinic of Imam Reza hospital due to acne as the case group, and 133 healthy individuals without any skin diseases including acne among those accompanying the patients as the control group. The case and the control groups were age matched. For each patient who had the criteria for inclusion in the study, a questionnaire was completed and the necessary information was collected and then analyzed statistically. Result: The questionnaires were filled for 133 patients with acne and 133 healthy controls. Twenty-nine patients with acne (21.8%) and 12 patients in the control group (9.1%) were smokers, and the difference between them was significant (P = 0.004). The number of cigarettes smoked per day was significantly different in the two groups (4.75 in the case group versus 1.88 in the control group). No correlation was found between smoking and acne localization, severity of acne, the type of lesion, symptomatic or asymptomatic nature of acne and acne complications. In the case group, the smokers developed acne at an older age than the non-smokers. Conclusion: Patients with acne were more likely to smoke than patients without acne; thus, smoking might be a factor affecting the incidence of acne.