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Prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus and risk factors in rural areas of Anhui Province

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Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a severe complex rheumatic disease, but good estimate of its prevalence and risk factors is lacking in China. The aim of the study was to explore the prevalence of SLE and risk factors in rural areas of Anhui Province of China. Eleven counties were randomly selected in Anhui Province, and then, 15 % of the villages in selected counties were randomly sampled as study sites. Patients with SLE were identified through two phases. Based on the cases identified, a population-based case–control study was designed to examine risk factors associated with SLE. A total of 1,253,832 individuals and identified 471 SLE cases were surveyed. Crude and age-standardized prevalence were estimated at 37.56 and 36.03 per 100,000 persons, respectively. Gender difference in the prevalence of SLE was significant (P = 4.62 × 10−76), and the age-standardized prevalence was 6.17 for males and 67.78 for females per 100,000 persons. The distribution of SLE prevalence was significant by age group (P = 1.78 × 10−53), and the peak prevalence was observed at 40–50 years. Multiple environmental factors were associated with SLE, including birth conditions, sweet food, cooking oil, taste, fruit consumption, sunlight exposure, quality of sleep, physical activities, drinking water, residence, negative life events, hepatitis B vaccine, age of menarche, and age at birth of first child (P < 0.05). Our large population-based epidemiological survey estimated the prevalence of SLE at 37.56 per 100,000 persons. Multiple environmental factors were associated with the development of SLE.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Dr De-Guang Wang, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, for assistance in case identification. We thank Jian-Jun Liu, Anhui Medical University, for his editorial support and assistance in preparing the manuscript. We also thank Min Gao, Jing Tian, Jie Yang, Ye Fan, Jing Li, Se-Ying Dai, Man-Man Lu, Wen-Xian Li, Ning Zhang, Min Tian, Lei Ding, Song Wang, Zhang-Jun Huang, Yan Ma, Juan Wang, Li-Li Chen, Ruo-Jie Li, Chao Wang, Wei-Zi Qin, Zhen-Qiu Zha, Lei Xue, Wei-Wei Hu, Wang-Dong Xu, Mo Zhou, Hui Peng, Yu-Jing Zhang, Ke Xu, Wei Wang, Shan-Shan Liu, Yu Zhai, Hai-Rong Liu, Yan Zhu, Juan Liu, Mei Yang, Peng-Fei Wen, Kao-Kao Zhu, Min Zhang, Lin-Feng Hu, Xiao-Song Wang, Lian-Hong Li, Hui Yuan, Li-Wei Zhu, and Hong Chen, students of Anhui Medical University, for assistance in data collection. Their cooperation was invaluable to this research. We also express great thanks to all the study subjects for their participation. The study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30830089, 81172764, 81001283, 81102192). The funding source had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the article.

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The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230032, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Feng Zou, Chen-Chen Feng, Ji-Min Zhu, Gui-Mei Chen, Han Cen, Rui-Xue Leng, Fa-Ming Pan, Hai-Feng Pan, Rui Li, Yin-Guang Fan, Bin Wang & Dong-Qing Ye

  2. Anhui Provincial Laboratory of Population Health and Major Disease Screening and Diagnosis, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Yan-Feng Zou, Chen-Chen Feng, Ji-Min Zhu, Gui-Mei Chen, Han Cen, Rui-Xue Leng, Fa-Ming Pan, Hai-Feng Pan, Rui Li, Yin-Guang Fan, Bin Wang & Dong-Qing Ye

  3. Department of Rheumatology, Anhui Provincial Hospital, 17 Lujiang Road, Hefei, 230001, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Jin-Hui Tao & Xiang-Pei Li

  4. Department of Hematology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 678 Furong Road, Hefei, 230601, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Qian-Ling Ye

  5. State Laboratory Incubation Base on Dermatology, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Feng-Yu Zhang

  6. Department of Public Health and General Medicine, School of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230038, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Ji-Min Zhu

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Correspondence to Dong-Qing Ye.

Additional information

Y.-F. Zou, C.-C. Feng, J.-M. Zhu and J.-H. Tao contributed equally to this work.

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Zou, YF., Feng, CC., Zhu, JM. et al. Prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus and risk factors in rural areas of Anhui Province. Rheumatol Int 34, 347–356 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-013-2902-1

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