The Relationship of Facial Skin Biophysical Properties to Age and the Potential Role of Lifestyles in Chinese Rural and Urban Females

Abstract

Abstract As a developing country, China has a large population base of county women, but previous studies showed a significant lack of attention towards their skin status. This study is supposed to recruit, measure and portray the facial skin biophysical properties of rural females. The individual lifestyles were also investigated and analyzed to assess the risky or protective factors. There were 10 skin parameters measured of 350 rural female aged 18–65 years subjects (skin barrier status, color and elasticity). The trend of subject's skin parameters with age was analyzed through curve fitting, analysis of variance and Krustal-Wallis H test, with 0.05 as the significance threshold. The lifestyles related to "unfavorable" skin parameters were initially evaluated by chi-square test and crude OR, and then re-evaluated by logistic regression model and adjusted OR to control age. Rural females experience significant adverse changes in skin biophysical parameters with age, and they had lower facial skin hydration level and sebum secretion, higher transepidermal water loss and higher melanin content. Urban women had poorer skin gloss, more yellowish skin tone, and poorer elasticity. Self-reported oily or mixed skin was associated with high sebum and hemoglobin content. Skincare product use was a significant protective factor for skin hydration. Sunscreen product use was a protective factor for a number of skin biophysical parameters, but was not statistically significant after controlling for age. In conclusion, distinct skincare measures are recommended for rural and urban women based on their different facial skin biophysical properties and trends with age.