“…Established risk factors for RA were identified by review of the existing literature prior to data analysis. We identified the following covariates that needed to be adjusted for: age (years), 1 sex (women, men), 1 23–25 smoking (smoking status (never, former or current smoker) and pack years of smoking (years)), 3–5 level of education (basic school, higher education 1–2 year, higher education 3–4 year or higher education >4 years), 3 alcohol (alcohol consumption (grams per day) and alcohol abstinence (yes, no)), 26 waist circumference (cm), 27 body fat percentage (%), 27 and physical activity (hours per week) 28 ; and further for women: early menopause (yes, no), 29 breast-feeding (months), 29 hormone replacement therapy (<7, ≥7 years of use), 29 oral contraception (<7, ≥7 years of use), 29 and parity (number of pregnancies). 29 Data on genetic disposition are not available and therefore not adjusted for.…”