Long-term weight changes and risk of rheumatoid arthritis among women in a prospective cohort: a marginal structural model approach.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the association of long-term weight change with RA risk in a large prospective cohort study.

Methods

The Nurses' Health Study II started in 1989 (baseline); after exclusions, we studied 108 505 women 25-42 years old without RA. Incident RA was reported by participants and confirmed by medical record review. Body weight was reported biennially through 2015. We investigated two time-varying exposures: weight changes from baseline and from age 18; change was divided into five categories. We used a marginal structural model approach to account for time-varying weight change and covariates.

Results

Over 2 583 266 person-years, with a median follow-up time of 25.3 years, 541 women developed RA. Compared with women with stable weight from baseline, weigh

SUBMITTER: Marchand NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8996781 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature