Skin photoaging in farmers professionally exposed to ultraviolet radiations

Background: Most personal exposures to UV radiations occur from outdoor activities and several studies detected a significant association between skin cancer and outdoor occupation. Objective: The aim of the study was to ascertain the prevalence of photoaging signs in a population of Italian farmers and in a population of indoor workers taking account of confounding factors.Methods: 169 farmers and 198 indoor workers were classified for skin phototype and for skin photoaging, moreover 13 variables were taken into account. Marginal permutation tests were adopted for statistical analysis. Results: Farmers were significantly older than the indoor workers. In workers occupationally exposed to UV photoaging increased with increasing age and years of occupational exposure to sunlight. The distribution of skin phototype did not show significant differences in the two populations, while farmers showed a higher degree of photoaging than indoor workers. Conclusions: Even if farmers were older than the indoor workers it seems that outdoor work produces a higher degree of photoaging.