RESEARCH - Socioeconomic status and the risk of developing RA

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Ann Rheum Dis. 2005 Apr 20; [Epub ahead of print]

Socioeconomic status and the risk of developing Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Bengtsson C, Nordmark B, Klareskog L, Lundberg I, Alfredsson L.

Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To study whether formal education and occupational class are

associated with incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) overall and with the

incidence of the two major subgroups of RA, i.e. seropositive (RF+) and

seronegative (RF-) disease, respectively. METHODS: In a population-based

case-control study using incident cases of RA, performed in Sweden during

the period May 1996-June 2001, 930 cases and 1126 controls participated. The

relative risk (RR) of developing RA with 95 % confidence interval (CI) was

calculated for different levels of formal education compared with university

degree and for different occupational classes compared with higher

non-manual employees. RESULTS: SUBJECTS: without a university degree had an

increased risk of RA compared with those with a university degree (RR=1.4

(95% CI 1.2-1.8)). For manual employees, assistant and intermediate

non-manual employees together, the risk of developing RA was about 20 %

higher compared with higher non-manual employees. These increased risks were

more pronounced for RF+ RA as compared to RF- RA and mainly confined to

women. Smoking could not alone explain the observed associations between

risk of RA in different socioeconomic groups in Sweden.

CONCLUSIONS: We found an association between high socioeconomic status and

lower risk of RA in an investigation that was population-based and

representative for the Swedish population. The study demonstrates that as

yet unexplained environmental and/or lifestyle factors influence the risk of

RA, even in the relatively egalitarian Swedish society.

PMID: 15843455

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=1\

5843455 & dopt=Abstract

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