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Chen YW, Hsu PK, Lin SP, Chen HH. Appendicitis is associated with an increased risk of systemic lupus erythematosus: a nationwide, population-based, case-control study. Clin Rheumatol 2023:10.1007/s10067-023-06585-w. [PMID: 37040052 DOI: 10.1007/s10067-023-06585-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine the association between appendicitis and the risk of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS Using claims data from the 2003-2013 Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database, we selected 6054 patients with newly diagnosed SLE from 2007 to 2012 and 36,324 age-, sex- and year of SLE diagnosis date-matched (1:6) non-SLE controls. After controlling for potential confounders, a multivariable conditional logistic regression model was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association of appendicitis history with SLE. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using various definitions of appendicitis. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine possible modification effects by age, gender, level of urbanization, income and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). RESULTS The average age of patients was 38 years old in both groups. The proportion of females was 86.5%. 75 (1.2%) of SLE cases and 205 (0.6%) of non-SLE controls had appendicitis history before the index date. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, appendicitis was associated with a higher risk of SLE (aOR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.34-2.52), and such association remained robust after variation of appendicitis definition. No significant modification effects were found for the association between appendicitis and SLE by age, gender, urbanization level, income and CCI. CONCLUSION This nationwide, population-based case-control study demonstrates an association between appendicitis and incident SLE. Lack of individual smoking status is a major limitation. Key Points • Appendicitis was significantly associated with an increased risk of SLE. • Such association remained robust using various definitions of appendicitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun-Wen Chen
- Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC
- Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Po-Ke Hsu
- Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Department of Gastroenterology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan
| | - Shih-Ping Lin
- Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC
- Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
- Division of Infection, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Hua Chen
- Division of General Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC.
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC.
- Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
- School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Department of Industrial Engineering and Enterprise Information, Tunghai University, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Taichung, Taiwan, 40705, ROC.
- Institute of Biomedical Science and Rong Hsing Research Center for Translational Medicine & Big Data Center, National Chung Hsin University, Taichung, Taiwan.
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