Table 3 Associations between single serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and odds of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the NHANES 2003–2018 cycles

PFOA

Per doubling

0.90 (0.81, 1.00)

0.04

0.19

0.84 (0.76, 0.94)

0.002

0.03

0.88 (0.79, 0.98)

0.02

0.15

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.72 (0.51, 1.01)

0.06

0.21

0.61 (0.43, 0.88)

0.01

0.03

0.67 (0.46, 0.98)

0.04

0.15

Q3

0.97 (0.70, 1.34)

0.85

0.85

0.78 (0.56, 1.08)

0.13

0.20

0.87 (0.62, 1.22)

0.42

0.47

Q4

0.66 (0.47, 0.91)

0.01

0.07

0.54 (0.38, 0.76)

< 0.001

0.03

0.60 (0.42, 0.86)

0.01

0.15

PFOS

Per doubling

1.03 (0.95, 1.13)

0.46

0.56

0.96 (0.88, 1.05)

0.37

0.40

0.97 (0.88, 1.06)

0.45

0.48

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.89 (0.63, 1.25)

0.50

0.58

0.79 (0.56, 1.12)

0.18

0.23

0.82 (0.58, 1.17)

0.27

0.36

Q3

1.07 (0.76, 1.52)

0.68

0.71

0.86 (0.60, 1.23)

0.41

0.43

0.91 (0.64, 1.31)

0.61

0.63

Q4

1.08 (0.76, 1.53)

0.66

0.71

0.81 (0.55, 1.19)

0.29

0.32

0.82 (0.56, 1.22)

0.34

0.41

PFHxS

Per doubling

0.94 (0.86, 1.03)

0.15

0.30

0.88 (0.80, 0.97)

0.01

0.03

0.91 (0.83, 1.00)

0.05

0.15

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.87 (0.64, 1.17)

0.35

0.45

0.73 (0.55, 0.99)

0.04

0.07

0.78 (0.57, 1.07)

0.12

0.22

Q3

0.80 (0.58, 1.11)

0.18

0.32

0.64 (0.45, 0.91)

0.01

0.03

0.70 (0.49, 1.01)

0.06

0.15

Q4

0.80 (0.57, 1.13)

0.21

0.32

0.63 (0.44, 0.90)

0.01

0.03

0.70 (0.48, 1.00)

0.06

0.15

PFDA

Per doubling

0.90 (0.82, 1.00)

0.05

0.20

0.87 (0.78, 0.96)

0.01

0.03

0.89 (0.81, 0.99)

0.03

0.15

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.93 (0.70, 1.24)

0.63

0.71

0.89 (0.66, 1.20)

0.44

0.44

0.97 (0.71, 1.31)

0.82

0.82

Q3

0.77 (0.56, 1.05)

0.10

0.23

0.73 (0.53, 0.99)

0.04

0.07

0.81 (0.60, 1.11)

0.19

0.29

Q4

0.76 (0.56, 1.03)

0.08

0.23

0.67 (0.49, 0.92)

0.01

0.03

0.72 (0.52, 1.00)

0.05

0.15

PFNA

Per doubling

0.91 (0.81, 1.02)

0.09

0.23

0.85 (0.76, 0.96)

0.01

0.03

0.87 (0.77, 0.98)

0.02

0.15

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.85 (0.61, 1.17)

0.32

0.43

0.78 (0.56, 1.09)

0.14

0.21

0.82 (0.58, 1.15)

0.25

0.35

Q3

0.76 (0.56, 1.04)

0.09

0.23

0.67 (0.49, 0.92)

0.01

0.03

0.70 (0.51, 0.96)

0.03

0.15

Q4

0.81 (0.58, 1.13)

0.22

0.32

0.70 (0.49, 0.99)

0.04

0.07

0.74 (0.51, 1.06)

0.10

0.20

PFUnDA

Per doubling

0.94 (0.85, 1.04)

0.22

0.32

0.89 (0.80, 0.98)

0.02

0.05

0.91 (0.82, 1.01)

0.07

0.15

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

0.83 (0.60, 1.14)

0.24

0.34

0.79 (0.58, 1.09)

0.15

0.21

0.86 (0.63, 1.19)

0.36

0.42

Q3

0.83 (0.62, 1.11)

0.22

0.32

0.73 (0.55, 0.98)

0.04

0.07

0.81 (0.60, 1.10)

0.18

0.29

Q4

0.77 (0.56, 1.06)

0.11

0.24

0.66 (0.48, 0.90)

0.01

0.03

0.73 (0.53, 1.02)

0.06

0.15

Me-PFOSA-AcOH

Per doubling

1.13 (1.05, 1.22)

0.002

0.06

1.06 (0.98, 1.14)

0.17

0.23

1.05 (0.97, 1.14)

0.20

0.29

Q1

Ref

–

Ref

–

Ref

–

Q2

1.39 (1.02, 1.90)

0.04

0.19

1.22 (0.89, 1.67)

0.21

0.26

1.23 (0.89, 1.69)

0.20

0.29

Q3

1.58 (1.12, 2.22)

0.01

0.07

1.39 (0.98, 1.96)

0.06

0.10

1.37 (0.97, 1.93)

0.07

0.15

Q4

1.57 (1.10, 2.23)

0.01

0.07

1.21 (0.85, 1.72)

0.29

0.32

1.20 (0.84, 1.72)

0.30

0.38