Smoker's face: an underrated clinical sign?

In a prospective survey of patients attending a general medical outpatient clinic roughly half the current cigarette smokers who had smoked for 10 years or more were identified, using defined criteria, by their facial features alone. These facial features, designated "smoker's face," were present in three (8%) of those who had smoked cigarettes for 10 years or more in the past and in none of the non-smokers. The association of smoker's face with current smoking that had continued for 10 years or more was significant (p less than 0.001) and remained after the patient's age, social class, exposure to sunlight, recent change of weight, and estimated lifetime consumption of cigarettes were controlled for. Smoker's face may be a helpful indicator in antismoking campaigns.