Table 1: Subjects` Characteristics and Results of Our Case-Control Study

SLE N (%) Controls N (%) p-Value OR CI 95%
N 108 134
Age (years) 42 ± 1 38 ± 1 0.37
Disease Duration (years) 15 ± 1
Educational level
High school
Above high school

52 (48)
56 (52)

26 (19)
108 (81)

0.0001

0.26


2.18-6.83
Marital Status
Never married
Married,Living Common-law, Widowed
Separated, Divorced, Remarried

15 (14)
77 (71)
6 (15)

25 (19)
84 (62)
25 (19)

0.36
Work experience
Homemaker
Working/Student

21 (21)
81 (79)

11 (9)
115 (91)

0.01
2.7 1.24-5.93
Ever pregnant 83 (77) 93 (69) 0.15 1.5 0.85-2.73
Symptoms before last pregnancy
Yes
No
Unknown

25 (30)
55 (66)
3 (4)
DM 4 (4) 2 (1.5) 0.28
Hypertension 23 (22) 18 (13) 0.10 1.76 0.90-3.48
Thyroid Problems 23 (21) 14 (10) 0.02 2.32 1.13-4.77
Other Medical Problems 57 (54) 57 (43) 0.09 1.55 0.93-2.59
Onset of menarche (years) 12.6 ± 0.1 12.2 ± 0.2 0.07
Menopausal 40 (38) 32 (24) 0.02 1.93 1.11-3.38
Age at menopause * 42 ± 1 43 ± 2 0.37
Hysterectomy causing menopause in above group (%) 21 (47) 12 (39) 0.29 1.39 0.55-3.51
Hormone replacement therapy (ever used during menopause) 29 (66) 14 (47) 0.10 2.21 0.85-5.71
Irregular periods in non-menopausal 10 of 44 (22) 5 of 29 (17) 0.57 1.4 0.43-4.7
Mean age at 1st pregnancy (years) 23 ± 1 24 ± 1 0.06
Number of pregnancies per woman 2.3 ± 0.2 1.8 ± 0.1 0.17
Number of children 2.33 ± 0.1 2.05 ± 0.1 0.72
Had child (ren) (% out of those pregnant) 78 (93) 89 (95) 0.60
No children 5 (5) 4 (5) 0.74
Miscarriage (at least one) 26 (31) 28 (30) 0.86 0.94 0.50-1.79
Therapeutic abortion 7 (8) 8 (8) 0.53 1.03 0.36-2.99
Ever had a stillborn child 1 (1) 0 (0) 0.22
Neonatal death (<3 months) 4 (5) 1 (1) 0.13
At least one preterm birth 20 (24) 5 (5) 0.0008 8.32 3.06-22.66
Gestational Diabetes 7 (9) 5 (5) 0.42 1.62 0.49-5.33
High blood pressure / Toxemia during pregnancy 23 (28) 20 (22) 0.36 1.38 0.69-2.75
Smoked during pregnancy 35 (42) 22 (24) 0.009 2.35 1.23-4.49
Alcohol during pregnancy 5 (6) 10 (11) 0.26 0.53 0.17-1.62
Other health problems during pregnancy 30 (37) 24 (26) 0.11 1.69 0.89-3.23
SLE flare during pregnancy 10 (18) As defined by patients
SLE improved during pregnancy 10 (18)
Contraception use (ever, any, including OCP) 96 (89) 128 (96) 0.03 0.31 0.11-0.92
OCP use 66 (49) 47 (44) 0.38 0.8 0.48-1.32
Duration of OCP use (mean ± SEM in months) 56 ± 5.7 72 ± 5.5 0.0001 0.58-0.65
Tubal Ligation 33 (32) 30 (23) 0.11 1.60 0.89-2.85
At least 6 months of infertility 32 (33) 41 (32) 0.88 1.04 0.59-1.83
Unable to have children because of infertility 18 (19) 30 (24) 0.38 0.75 0.39-1.44
Ever taken fertility medications 5 (5) 5 (4) 0.73 1.25 0.35-4.44
Infertility problems – partner
Yes
No
Not known

5 (5)
63 (64)
31 (31)

6 (5)
74 (59)
45 (36)

0.76

0.98

0.29-3.36

Results are given in % or mean ± SEM, unless indicated otherwise.
OR= odds ratios: SLE vs controls
OCP= oral contraceptive pills
* Most were not menopausal, so age should increase over time