ArticleRMD open2019
Occupational exposure to asbestos and silica and risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: findings from a Swedish population-based case-control study.
Article in RMD open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exposure to Occupational Inhalants and the Risk of Developing Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Association of Occupational Exposure to Free Crystalline Silica and Rheumatoid Arthritis.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Inhalant Exposures and the Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Review
- Global temporal trends and projections of rheumatoid arthritis incidence among women of childbearing age: age-period-cohort analysis 2021.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Comprehensive Review of Etiology, Pathophysiology, and Innovative Therapeutic Advancements.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Review
- Environmental and Lifestyle Factors in the Risk and Prevention of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Trace Elements-Role in Joint Function and Impact on Joint Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Therapeutic Potential of Phytochemicals Unlocks New Avenues in the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Occupational history questionnaire for job coding and exposure assessment in systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2025Article
- Airborne culprits: A comprehensive review of PM, silica, and TCDD in autoimmune diseases.Journal of translational autoimmunity · 2024Review
- Air Pollution and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk and Progression: Implications for the Mucosal Origins Hypothesis and Climate Change for RA Pathogenesis.Current rheumatology reports · 2024Review
- Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis Development.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2023Review
- Article
- Pneumoconiosis combined with connective tissue disease in China: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Occupational inhalable agents constitute major risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis, particularly in the context of genetic predisposition and smoking.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2023Article
- Prevention vs treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Immunotherapy advances · 2023Review
- Modifiable risk factors linked to the development of rheumatoid arthritis: evidence, immunological mechanisms and prevention.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Investigation of the association between coffee and risk of RA-results from the Swedish EIRA study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Article
- The Relationship between 9/11 Exposure, Systemic Autoimmune Disease, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Mediational Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Rheumatoid Arthritis in Silica-Exposed Workers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Airborne agents including cigarette smoke associate with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We analysed to which extent occupational exposure to asbestos and silica confers an increased risk of developing serologically defined subsets of RA. Methods: This Swedish population-based case-control study enrolled incident RA cases between 1996 and 2013 (n=11 285), identified through national public authority and quality registers, as well as from the Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA) Study. Controls (n=1 15 249) were randomly selected from Sweden's population register and matched on sex, age, index year and county. Occupational histories were obtained from national censuses. Exposure to asbestos and silica was assessed by job-exposure matrices. Logistic regression was used to calculate ORs adjusted for age, sex, county, index year, alcohol use and smoking. Results: Results showed that male workers exposed to asbestos had higher risk of seropositive RA (OR=1.2, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.4) and seronegative RA (OR=1.2, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.5) compared with unexposed workers. The risk was highest among workers exposed to asbestos from 1970, before a national ban was introduced. Male workers exposed to silica also had higher risk of RA (seropositive RA: OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 1.6; seronegative RA: OR=1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.5). For the largest subset, seropositive RA, the OR increased with the number of years exposed to silica, up to OR=2.3 (95% CI 1.4 to 3.8, p for trend <0.0001). Women overall had lower ORs than men, but the duration and intensity of their exposure were lower. Conclusions: In conclusion, we observed an association between asbestos exposure and risk of developing RA and extended previous findings of an association between silica exposure and RA risk, where a dose-response relationship was observed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.