The link and interplay between different airway exposures and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk are unclear. This study was undertaken to determine whether respiratory disease is associated with development of RA, and specifically to examine this relationship by RA serostatus and smoking exposure.
Using data from the Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis study, this analysis included 1,631 incident RA cases and 3,283 matched controls recruited from 2006 to 2016. Linking these individuals to the National Patient Register provided information on past acute or chronic, upper or lower respiratory disease diagnoses. For each disease group, we estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR
Respiratory disease diagnoses were associated with risk of RA, with an OR
Respiratory diseases increase the risk for both seropositive and seronegative RA, but only among nonsmokers. These findings raise the hypothesis that smoking and airway disease are associated with RA development through partly different mechanisms.