Association between antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study in South Korea
Main finding · Risk of RA by cumulative days of antibiotic useResult — go to the resultAdjusted hazard ratio 1.79 95% CI 1.67–1.92Authors' conclusion
Our findings suggest a possible association between the long-term use of antibiotics and RA incidence.
Study context
- Population
- Adults aged 40 years or older, Korean National Health Insurance Service database; follow-up 1 January 2008 to 31 December 20193,395,590 person-years
- Exposure
- Antibiotic use vs antibiotic non-use
- Outcome
- Risk of RA
Methodological detailspopulation-based, multivariable Cox hazard regression
- Population-based
- Multivariable Cox hazard regression
Main finding
Risk of RA by cumulative days of antibiotic use
Adjusted hazard ratio
1.79
95% CI 1.67–1.92
≥91 daysvs Non-users
aHR 1.79 (95% CI 1.67–1.92)
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | aHR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Risk of RA by number of antibiotic classes used≥4 classesvs Non-users | 1.61 (1.51–1.71) | |
| 0.512Adjusted hazard ratio (log scale) |
Risk of RA by number of antibiotic classes used
- Risk of RA positively associated with a larger number of drug classes
Sensitivity analyses, including variations in antibiotic exposure periods
- Trends maintained
Original publication
Association between antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study in South Korea. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 28 September 2024. doi:10.
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