Table 1

ORs of developing RA (overall), ACPA-positive RA and ACPA-negative RA for subjects worked in the cold, in cold outdoor and cold indoor environment

RA (overall)ACPA-positive RAACPA-negative RA
Exposure
status
Cases/controlsOR
(95% CI)
Cases/controlsOR
(95% CI)
Cases/controlsOR
(95% CI)
Unexposed2783/48151.0 (ref.)1811/48151.0 (ref.)972/48151.0 (ref.)
Cold*
 Ever853/10231.5 (1.4 to 1.7)574/10231.6 (1.4 to 1.8)279/10231.4 (1.2 to 1.6)
 Current354/3921.6 (1.4 to 1.9)236/3921.7 (1.4 to 2.0)118/3921.5 (1.2 to 1.9)
 Past499/6311.4 (1.3 to 1.7)338/6311.5 (1.3 to 1.8)161/6311.3 (1.0 to 1.5)
Cold outdoor†
 Ever658/8051.5 (1.3 to 1.7)435/8051.5 (1.3 to 1.7)223/8051.4 (1.1 to 1.6)
 Current289/3391.5 (1.3 to 1.8)188/3391.5 (1.2 to 1.8)101/3391.5 (1.2 to 1.9)
 Past369/4661.4 (1.2 to 1.7)247/4661.5 (1.3 to 1.8)122/4661.3 (1.0 to 1.6)
Cold indoor†
 Ever175/1771.7 (1.4 to 2.1)125/1771.9 (1.5 to 2.4)50/1771.4 (1.0 to 1.9)
 Current60/472.3 (1.6 to 3.4)46/472.8 (1.8 to 4.2)14/471.5 (0.8 to 2.8)
 Past115/1301.5 (1.2 to 2.0)79/1301.6 (1.2 to 2.1)36/1301.4 (0.9 to 2.0)
  • *Missing information on 23 (0.6%) cases and 87 (1.5%) controls.

  • Missing information on 43 (1.2%) cases and 128 (2.2%) controls.

  • ACPA, anticitrullinated protein antibody; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.

  • OR adjusted for age (10 strata) sex, residential area and recruitment time period (1996–2006 and 2006–2014).