Sheen YH, et al. - This study was formulated to ascertain whether asthma was associated with increased risks of incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among adults. This study revealed a significantly higher risk of developing RA in patients with asthma versus healthy individuals, despite the counterregulatory relationship between T_H1 and T_H2 cells.

Methods

• A retrospective population-based case-control study was performed that examined existing incident RA cases and controls matched by age, sex, and registration year from the general population in Olmsted County, Minnesota, between January 2002 and December 2007.
• In order to ascertain asthma status using predetermined asthma criteria, a comprehensive medical record reviews were performed.
• Between cases and controls, the frequency of a history of asthma before the index date was compared.
• Researchers used logistic regression models to adjust for confounding factors.

Results

• 221 RA cases and 218 controls were incorporated in this study.
• 156 (70.6%) were females, 207 (93.7%) were white, the median age at the index date was 52.5 years, and 53 (24.0%) had a history of asthma, among the 221 RA cases.
• Except that 35 of 218 controls (16.1%) had a history of asthma, controls had similar characteristics.
• An association between asthma and increased risks of RA (adjusted odds ratio, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.05-2.90; P = .03) was observed, after adjustment for sex, age, smoking, body mass index, socioeconomic status, and comorbidity.