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Familial history of certain arthritis-related diseases more predictive of RA than others
Although having a family history of certain arthritis-related diseases like osteoarthritis or arthralgia may help predict rheumatoid arthritis, others may be less predictive, according to study results.
During a nested case-control study of the Swedish population, researchers used data from the National Patient Register to identify cases with seropositive or seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA). About 90% fulfilled American College of Rheumatology 1987 criteria for RA, and serology was based on ICD-10 codes. For each case, the researchers randomly selected five demographically matched individuals from the general population through the Swedish Total Population Registration to serve as controls. A total of 54,515 cases of RA with 203,141 first-degree relatives were identified.
The researchers calculated familial risk through the use of conditional logistic regression and replicated results using the Swedish rheumatology register.
Statistically significant associations with seropositive and seronegative RA were seen in each of 10 selected arthritis-related diseases (arthralgia, connective tissue disorders, juvenile idiopathic arthritis [JIA], systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis and spondyloarthropathies), but results ranged widely the magnitude varied widely, according to the researchers. Family history of JIA and RA were the most strongly associated, but osteoarthritis showed the weakest associations. Those with two or more first-degree relatives with JIA or RA were at the highest risk for both seropositive and seronegative RA, according to the researchers.
“Although statistically significant familial co-aggregation was found for RA to every non-RA arthritis-related disease group, interestingly with no pronounced difference between seropositive and seronegative RA, there was no clinically meaningful association between relatives’ arthralgia or osteoarthritis and an individual’s onset of RA,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The authors had no relevant financial disclosures.