Predictive values of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies and rheumatoid factor in relation to serological aspects of the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: In this retrospective population-based register study, we wanted to determine the positive predictive values (PPVs) of immunoglobulin M rheumatoid factor (IgM RF) and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) at 3 × upper normal limit (UNL), since they are weighted equally in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/ European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2010 criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods: Test results, ordering unit, test date, and patient social security number were collected from the Department of Clinical Immunology at Odense University Hospital from 2007 to 2016 and merged with patient diagnosis from the Danish National Patient Registry.Results: The PPV of IgM RF at 3 × UNL was 14%, compared to a PPV of 43% for ACPAs at 3 × UNL.Conclusion: The PPV of ACPAs is higher than the PPV of IgM RF at 3 × UNL. These findings are not reflected in the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria for RA.

Socioeconomic status and risk of osteoporotic fractures and the use of DXA scans: data from the Danish population-based ROSE study.

There is a need of studies exploring the link between socioeconomic status and DXA scans and osteoporotic fracture, which was the aim of the present study. No differences in socioeconomic status and risk of osteoporotic fractures were found. However, women with further/higher education and higher income are more often DXA-scanned. INTRODUCTION: Lower socioeconomic status is known to be associated with a range of chronic conditions and with access to health care services. The link between socioeconomic status and the use of DXA scans and osteoporotic fracture, however, needs to be explored more closely. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status and both DXA scan utilization and major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) using a population-based cohort of Danish women and national registers. METHODS: The study included 17,155 women (65-81 years) sampled from the Risk-stratified Osteoporosis Strategy Evaluation study (ROSE). Information on socioeconomic background, DXA scans, and MOFs was retrieved from national registers. Competing-risk regression analyses were performed. Mean follow-up was 4.8 years. RESULTS: A total of 4245 women had a DXA scan (24.7%) and 1719 (10.0%) had an incident MOF during follow-up. Analyses showed that women with basic education had a lower probability of undergoing DXA scans than women with further or higher education (greater than upper secondary education and vocational training education) (subhazard ratio (SHR) = 0.82; 95% CI 0.75-0.89, adjusted for age and comorbidity). Moreover, women with disposable income in the low and medium tertiles had a lower probability of undergoing DXA scans than women in the high-income tertile (SHR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.84-0.97 and SHR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.82-0.95, respectively, adjusted for age and comorbidity). No association between socioeconomic background and probability of DXA was found in adjusted analyses. CONCLUSION: The study found no differences in risk of osteoporotic fractures depending on socioeconomic status. However, women with further or higher education as well as higher income are more often DXA-scanned.

Iris pigmentation and sociability in childhood: a re-examination.

Drawing from Rosenberg and Kagan's (1987) finding of an association between iris pigmentation and behavioral inhibition in early childhood, we sought, in the present investigation, to examine the developmental relation between eye color and social withdrawal in kindergarteners and children in grades 2 and 4. In kindergarten and grade 2, blue-eyed children were found to be overrepresented in groups of extremely withdrawn youngsters. No association was found between eye color and withdrawal in grade 4 or between eye color and extreme sociability at any grade. The results were interpreted as suggestive of the increasing role, with age, of social factors in the determination of extremely inhibited behavior.