ArticleACR open rheumatology2021
Inorganic Dust Exposure During Military Service as a Predictor of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Other Autoimmune Conditions.
Article in ACR open rheumatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 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
- Sarcoidosis risk among U.S. Veterans exposed to inorganic dust during military service.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Article
- Expansion of Access to Rheumatology Care for Rural Veterans: Program Development and Initial Feasibility of the National Tele-Rheumatology Program Using the RE-AIM Framework.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026Article
- Inhalant Exposures and the Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Review
- Air Pollution and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk and Progression: Implications for the Mucosal Origins Hypothesis and Climate Change for RA Pathogenesis.Current rheumatology reports · 2024Review
- Response.Chest · 2024Article
- The Role of Environmental Factors in the Development of Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies: a Narrative Review.Current rheumatology reports · 2023Review
- Screening for Exposure to Beryllium Among US Veterans With a Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis, 2002-2020.Chest · 2023Article
- Epidemiology of Sarcoidosis in U.S. Veterans from 2003 to 2019.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2023Article
- Mining the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, the leading role of the environment.RMD open · 2022Article
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Risk: The Role of Environmental Factors.Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America · 2022Review
- Inhalant and Additional Mucosal-Related Environmental Risks for Rheumatoid Arthritis.Rheumatic diseases clinics of North America · 2022Review
- The role of environmental exposures and gene-environment interactions in the etiology of systemic lupus erythematous.Journal of internal medicine · 2022Review
- Occupational Exposures in Rheumatoid Arthritis-related Airway Disease: A Missing Link?Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveRheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other autoimmune (AI) conditions are associated with inorganic dust exposure. Many military activities are likely to entail inorganic dust exposures. We wished to identify associations between prior military dust exposure and RA and other AI conditions.
methodsWe studied persons from a roster of Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps personnel who had served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. We linked military occupational codes to a job exposure matrix assigning dust exposure likelihood. We used the Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS) electronic health care records to identify cases of RA, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), vasculitis, and inflammatory myositis. Generalized estimating equations modeled risk of RA and other AI conditions associated with dust exposure, taking into account military service branch, age at first VAHCS encounter, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and years of military service.
resultsOf 438 086 veterans (68% ever-smokers), 44% were classified with likely or somewhat likely dust exposure. Cases included 1139 cases with RA, 467 cases with SLE, and 180 cases with other AI diseases (SSc, vasculitis, or inflammatory myositis). Military dust exposure was associated with increased odds of RA (odds ratio [OR] = 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.003-1.20) and increased odds of SSc, vasculitis, or inflammatory myositis (OR = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.14-1.34) but was protective for SLE (OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.76-0.88).
conclusionDust exposure during past military service comprises an occupational and environmental risk factor for RA and other AI diseases. This is potentially relevant for prevention activities.
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.