Table 3.
Relative risk of rheumatoid arthritis during follow-up (2003-09) of women in the Swedish Mammography Cohort by frequency of drinking of beer, wine, and liquor in 1997
| Alcohol type | No of cases of arthritis* | No of person years | Relative risk (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted for age | Adjusted for age and smoking† | |||
| Beer (No of glasses/month) | ||||
| Never | 80 | 89 589 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| <1 | 48 | 50 498 | 0.99(0.68 to 1.44) | 0.91(0.62 to 1.34) |
| 1-4 | 30 | 36 242 | 0.86(0.56 to 1.34) | 0.85(0.55 to 1.32) |
| >4‡ | 33 | 41 144 | 0.85(0.55 to 1.31) | 0.84(0.54 to 1.30) |
| P value for trend | — | — | 0.43 | 0.43 |
| Wine (No of glasses/month) | ||||
| <1 | 74 | 84 574 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 1-4 | 63 | 70 797 | 0.98(0.68 to 1.40) | 0.97(0.68 to 1.40) |
| 5-8 | 38 | 42 278 | 0.99(0.65 to 1.52) | 0.96(0.62 to 1.47) |
| >8‡ | 16 | 19 824 | 0.91(0.51 to 1.63) | 0.84(0.47 to 1.52) |
| P value for trend | — | — | 0.83 | 0.55 |
| Liquor (No of glasses/month) | ||||
| Never | 93 | 107 630 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| <1 | 67 | 72 588 | 1.06(0.75 to 1.49) | 0.93(0.66 to 1.32) |
| 1-4 | 22 | 25 571 | 1.02(0.62 to 1.67) | 0.85(0.51 to 1.41) |
| >4‡ | 9 | 11 683 | 0.92(0.45 to 1.90) | 0.77(0.37 to 1.59) |
| P value for trend | — | — | 0.81 | 0.43 |
*Any cases with missing values for frequency of alcohol intake were assumed to mean never consumption.
†Adjusted for age (continuous) and smoking status (never, former, current ≤10 cigarettes/day, or >10 cigarettes/day). Further adjustment for body mass index, educational level, parity, menopausal status, and consumption of meat and dairy products did not change the estimates.
‡Median values in the highest categories were 7/month for beer, 15/month for wine, and 6.5/month for liquor.