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Evaluation of associations between breast feeding and subsequent development of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Insights
Breastfeeding history did not show a significant link to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). This study found no strong evidence to support earlier claims of a connection between not being breastfed and developing JRA.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Rheumatology
- Immunology
Background:
- Previous reports suggested a potential link between not being breastfed and increased risk of autoimmune diseases.
- Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a childhood rheumatic disease with suspected autoimmune pathogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between breastfeeding history and the development of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).
- To confirm or refute earlier findings suggesting a higher incidence of JRA in non-breastfed children.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from a population survey of childhood rheumatic diseases in Saskatchewan, Canada.
- Retrospective, case-controlled study comparing breastfeeding history in children with JRA versus control groups.
- Children were categorized as breastfed if they had any duration of breastfeeding.
Main Results:
- Initial analysis showed children with pauciarticular JRA were more likely to have been breastfed (p=0.01), but this significance was lost upon correction for multiple comparisons.
- No significant differences in breastfeeding history were found between children with polyarticular JRA and the control population.
- Retrospective analysis revealed no significant differences in breastfeeding history between JRA subtypes and matched control groups (p=0.06 for pauciarticular JRA, p=0.78 for polyarticular JRA).
Conclusions:
- The study did not find a strong relationship between breastfeeding and the subsequent onset of JRA.
- Results fail to confirm earlier analyses suggesting a higher frequency of JRA in children who were not breastfed.
Objective:
To determine if previously breast fed children are more or less likely to have developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Reports suggest that non-breast fed children are more likely to develop certain diseases for which an autoimmune pathogenesis is suspected.
Methods:
Data from a longitudinal, case controlled population survey of childhood rheumatic diseases in Saskatchewan, Canada, included information pertaining to breast feeding history. These data were analyzed in the context of a retrospective, case controlled study to confirm results of an earlier report in which JRA was found to occur less frequently in previously breast fed children. For this analysis a child who had been breast fed for any length of time was categorized as having been a breast fed subject.
Results:
A population of 88 children with pauciarticular JRA were more likely than an unmatched control population of 331 healthy children (p = 0.01) or those with polyarticular JRA (p = 0.006) to have been breast fed. However, when corrected for the number of comparisons made, statistical significance was not achieved 49 children with polyarticular JRA did not have a breast feeding history significantly different from the unmatched control population. In a retrospective, case control analysis of 54 children with pauciarticular JRA and 23 children with polyarticular JRA, no significant differences were noted when the JRA populations were compared to the parent selected, matched control populations (odds ratio for pauciarticular JRA 2.17: confidence interval 0.87-5.44; p = 0.06 and for polyarticular JRA 1.17: CI 0.33-4.20: p = 0.78).
Conclusion:
These results do not indicate a strong relationship between antecedent breast feeding and the subsequent onset of JRA and fail to confirm the results of earlier analyses in which JRA was found to occur more frequently in children who had not been breast fed.
