Different gender of oxidative balance score on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in the US population from NHANES

Background Oxidative stress is associated with risk of pathogenesis between rheumatoid arthritis. The Oxidative Balance Score (OBS) is a systematic tool to assess the effects of diet and lifestyle in relation to oxidative stress. However, the association between OBS and rheumatoid arthritis has not been reported previously. We conducted a cross‐sectional study to investigate the complex association between OBS and rheumatoid arthritis in US adults. Methods Overall, 9747 participants were included in this cross‐sectional study. The exposure variable was OBS, which was scored by 16 dietary and four lifestyle factors. Multivariate logistic regression, subgroup analysis, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression were used to analyze the association between OBS and rheumatoid arthritis. Results Compared to the lowest OBS quartile group (Q1), the multivariate corrected odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for the highest quartile of OBS (Q4) was 0.69 (0.52–0.90) ( p = .013 for trend); furthermore, the RCS showed a negative linear relationship between OBS and rheumatoid arthritis. According to subgroup and RCS analyses, there was a significant difference between the association of OBS and with rheumatoid arthritis in terms of gender ( p = .049). Conclusion In conclusion, high OBS was negatively associated with the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Gender has an effect on OBS in RA. Our results suggest that OBS can be used as a biomarker to predict rheumatoid arthritis.