High serum cholesterol predicts rheumatoid arthritis in women, but not in men: a prospective study

Table 2 Predictors of rheumatoid arthritis: bivariate conditional logistic regression analysis, stratified by sex

		Women	Men
		OR (95 % CI)	OR (95 % CI)
Current non-smoking		1.00 (ref.)	1.00 (ref.)
Current smoking		1.61 (1.04–2.49)	1.97 (1.29–3.02)
White-collar worker		1.00 (ref.)	1.00 (ref.)
Blue-collar worker		1.45 (0.97–2.27)	1.63 (1.05–2.53)
Normal/late menopause (at age ≥46 years)		1.00 (ref.)	NA
Early menopause (at age <46 years)*		1.67 (0.85–3.21)	NA
BMI, per SD		1.02 (0.84-1.28)	0.72 (0.58-0.89)
Total cholesterol, per SD		1.54 (1.22–1.94)	1.03 (0.83–1.26)
Total cholesterol, per quartile	Quartile 1**	1.19 (0.62–2.27)	0.84 (0.48–1.48)
	Quartile 2**	1.00 (ref.)	1.00 (ref.)
	Quartile 3**	1.74 (0.93–3.26)	0.92 (0.53–1.59)
	Quartile 4**	3.09 (1.67–5.72)	0.74 (0.42–1.32)
Triglycerides, per quartile	Quartile 1***	0.65 (0.36–1.17)	1.54 (0.80–2.69)
	Quartile 2***	1.00	1.00
	Quartile 3***	0.62 (0.34–1.15)	0.94 (0.53–1.67)
	Quartile 4**	1.23 (0.69–2.02)	0.93 (0.52–1.66)

OR odds ratio, CI confidence interval, NA not applicable, SD standard deviation, BMI body mass index
*Data available from 84 female cases and 334 controls
**Total cholesterol: quartile 1: women 2.9–4.9, men 3.1–5.0 mmol/l; quartile 2: women 4.9–5.6, men 5.0–5.6 mmol/l
Quartile 3: women 5.6–6.5, men 5.6–6.3 mmol/l; quartile 4: women 6.5–9.7, men: 6.3–9.4 mmol/l
***Triglycerides: quartile 1: women 0.30–0.73, men 0.18–0.96 mmol/l; quartile 2: women 0.73–0.95, men 0.96–1.29 mmol/l
Quartile 3: women 0.95–1.35, men 1.29–1.76 mmol/l; quartile 4: women 1.35–4.75, men: 1.76–5.32 mmol/l

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