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Smoking and socio‐economic status may affect myasthenia gravis
Author(s) -
Maniaol A. H.,
Boldingh M.,
Brunborg C.,
Harbo H. F.,
Tallaksen C. M. E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2012.03843.x
Subject(s) - medicine , confidence interval , population , myasthenia gravis , norwegian , affect (linguistics) , demography , socioeconomic status , cross sectional study , pediatrics , environmental health , linguistics , philosophy , sociology , pathology
Background and purpose The influence of environmental factors in myasthenia gravis ( MG ) is unknown. The aim of this cross‐sectional population‐based study was to investigate if smoking and socio‐economic status ( SES ) were associated with MG in the Norwegian population. Methods Subjects were 491 MG patients identified in N orway at the time of the study (point prevalence 12.7/100 000). A questionnaire covering smoking habits and markers of SES (education and occupation) was mailed to all patients. Population data were obtained from S tatistics N orway. Results A total of 375 (76.6%) patients completed the questionnaire (236 women, mean age 59 ± 18 years), of which 193 reported to be early onset MG ( EOMG , onset ≤40 years, 155 women). Compared with the general population, current smoking was more prevalent amongst MG patients [risk ratio ( RR ) 1.5; 95% confidence interval ( CI ) 1.1–1.9], most of whom had EOMG . Female MG patients had higher education compared with the general population ( RR 4.5; 95% CI 3.2–6.2). Male MG patients were similar to the general population regarding both education and occupation, except for a subset of late onset MG who had shorter education ( RR 1.9; 95% CI 1.1–3.2) and had worked in crafts and related trades. About half of working age MG patients received disability pension, a finding significantly related to low educational level and a more severe disease course ( P < 0.001). Conclusion This is the first report indicating that smoking and SES may affect MG . Further studies investigating their role as potential risk factors are warranted.