Risk Factors and Comorbidities in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis: A Controlled Interview-Based Study of 1032 Patients *

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, often associated with other autoimmune conditions. Controlled studies have so far provided conflicting data on risk factors and comorbidity rates in PBC. We enrolled patients with PBC (n = 1032) from 23 tertiary referral centers for liver diseases in the United States and random-digit-dialed controls (n = 1041) matched for sex, age, race, and geographical location. Patients and controls were administered a modified version of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES III) questionnaire by trained personnel to evaluate associations between PBC and social, demographic, personal and family medical histories,…

• NU
  Northwestern University
• UO
  University of Minnesota
• UO
  University of Washington
• OH
  Ochsner Health
• UO
  University of California, San Francisco