Parity, body mass index, smoking and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health - Takeaways - MDSpire

Parity, body mass index, smoking and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

  • By

  • Louise Koller-Smith

  • Ahmed Mehdi

  • Syeda Farah Zahir

  • Lyn March

  • Leigh Tooth

  • Gita D. Mishra

  • Ranjeny Thomas

  • May 5, 2026

  • 0 min

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  • 1

    Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects approximately 1.1% of the Australian population, with over 70% of patients being women.

  • 2

    The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) involves over 57,000 women and provides extensive longitudinal data on health factors.

  • 3

    Obesity and smoking are hypothesized to increase RA risk, while higher parity is believed to have a protective effect.

  • 4

    Unique Australian environmental and lifestyle factors may influence RA risk differently than in other countries.

  • 5

    The study utilized a Treated RA cohort based on medication dispensing records to identify incident RA cases among participants.

Original Source(s)

Parity, body mass index, smoking and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health

  • by Louise Koller-Smith, Ahmed Mehdi, Syeda Farah Zahir, Lyn March, Leigh Tooth, Gita D. Mishra, Ranjeny Thomas

  • May 5, 2026

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