A case-control study on risk factors for scleroderma.

We conducted a case-control study to evaluate the contribution of some risk factors to the development of scleroderma. Fifty-seven patients with scleroderma (seven males and 50 females) were interviewed with a structured questionnaire at Saga Medical School Hospital from 1993 to 1995. Fifty-seven controls, who were individually sex and age matched with each case, were also interviewed with the same questionnaire during the same period. Eight individuals of parents or siblings of the scleroderma patients had Raynaud’s phenomenon, as compared to none of the controls ( P<0.01). Four siblings of the cases had been affected by autoimmune connective tissue diseases, as compared to none of the controls ( P<0.05). The percentage of the cases who had experience in the work exposed to hand-arm stress or vibration was larger than that of the controls ( P<0.05). These findings may reflect familial or environmental factors operating in the development of scleroderma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]