Socioeconomic status and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To study whether formal education and occupational class are associated with incidence of rheumatoid arthritis overall and with the incidence of the two major subgroups of rheumatoid arthritis-seropositive (RF+) and seronegative (RF-) disease.

Methods

930 cases and 1126 controls participated in a population based case-control study using incident cases of rheumatoid arthritis, carried out in Sweden during the period May 1996 to June 2001. The relative risk (RR) of developing rheumatoid arthritis 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 inc

SUBMITTER: Bengtsson C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1755268 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature