ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2024
Effects of oral contraceptives and menopausal hormone therapy on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective cohort study.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Oral contraceptives and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.The Journal of international medical research · 2025Pooled it
- Hormonal Contraceptive Formulations and Breast Cancer Risk in Adolescents and Premenopausal Women.JAMA oncology · 2025Article
- Late Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis.Aging and disease · 2025Review
- Article
- Environmental and Lifestyle Factors in the Risk and Prevention of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Multi-omic integration with human DRG proteomics highlights TNFα signalling as a relevant sexually dimorphic pathway.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Association between age at first birth and risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women: Evidence from NHANES 2011-2020.PloS one · 2025Article
- Rheumatoid Arthritis and Pregnancy: Managing Disease Activity and Fertility Concerns.Seminars in reproductive medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesOral contraceptives (OC) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) contain exogenous sex hormones and are used by millions of women around the world. However, their effect on the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is still debated and the current literature suggests that they may exert opposite effects on the risk of RA. The present study aimed to estimate the effects of exogenous hormones on the development of RA, both during the reproductive lifespan and later in life.
methodsThe association between OC and RA, as well as between MHT and late-onset RA (LORA), was investigated using time-dependent Cox regression modelling in white British women from the UK Biobank (n = 236 602 and n = 102 466, respectively) and replicated in women from all ethnic groups.
resultsOC use was associated with a decreased risk of RA in ever-users [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.82-0.96], as well as in current (HR = 0.81; 0.73-0.91) and former users (HR = 0.92; 0.84 -1.00), compared with never-users. In contrast, MHT use was associated with an increased risk of LORA in ever-users (HR = 1.16; 1.06-1.26) as well as in former users (HR = 1.13; 1.03-1.24) compared with never-users.
conclusionOC use appears to protect against RA, while MHT may increase the risk of LORA. This study provides new insights into the possible inverse effect of exposure to different exogenous sex hormones on the risk of RA.
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