Familial risks of glomerulonephritis – a nationwide family study in Sweden

Figures & data

Table 1. Characterstics of Swedish patients with glomerulonephritis born 1932 until 2010.

	Males		Females		All
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Subtype of glomerulonephritis
Acute	4357	31.1	2654	29.5	7011	30.5
Chronic	6446	46.0	3796	42.1	10242	44.5
Unspecified	3206	22.9	2556	28.4	5762	25.0
Age at diagnosis (yrs)
<10	2297	16.4	1526	16.9	3823	16.6
10–19	2595	18.5	1629	18.1	4224	18.4
20–29	2459	17.6	1572	17.5	4031	17.5
30–39	2223	15.9	1455	16.2	3678	16.0
40–49	1740	12.4	1106	12.3	2846	12.4
50–59	1512	10.8	983	10.9	2495	10.8
60–69	986	7.0	601	6.7	1587	6.9
≥70	197	1.4	134	1.5	331	1.4
Periods (years)
1964–1973	1231	8.8	758	8.4	1989	8.6
1974–1983	3398	24.3	1887	21.0	5285	23.0
1984–1993	2626	18.7	1612	17.9	4238	18.4
1994–2003	3459	24.7	2215	24.6	5674	24.7
2004–2010	3295	23.5	2534	28.1	5829	25.3
Socioeconomic status
Farmers	251	1.8	114	1.3	365	1.6
Self-employed workers	703	5.0	306	3.4	1009	4.4
Professionals	1507	10.8	583	6.5	2090	9.1
White-collar workers	4231	30.2	3529	39.2	7760	33.7
Blue-collar workers	7010	50.0	4233	47.0	11243	48.9
Others	307	2.2	241	2.7	548	2.4
Region of residence
Large cities	5671	40.5	3819	42.4	9490	41.2
Southern Sweden	5972	42.6	3788	42.1	9760	42.4
Northern Sweden	2366	16.9	1399	15.5	3765	16.4
All	14009	100.0	9006	100.0	23015	100.0

Table 2. Familial risks of glomerulonephritis (acute, chronic and unspecified) according to relatedness.

		Males				Females				All
Relatives with any type of glomerulonephritis	Subtype of glomerulonephritis in cases	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI
Parents history	Acute	60	1.68	1.28	2.16	34	1.57	1.09	2.20	94	1.64	1.32	2.01
	Chronic	156	2.97	2.52	3.47	109	3.53	2.90	4.26	265	3.18	2.81	3.58
	Unspecified	67	2.58	2.00	3.28	51	2.49	1.86	3.28	118	2.54	2.11	3.05
	All	283	2.48	2.20	2.78	194	2.66	2.30	3.06	477	2.55	2.33	2.79
Paternal history	Acute	38	1.74	1.23	2.39	19	1.44	0.86	2.25	57	1.63	1.23	2.11
	Chronic	93	2.93	2.36	3.59	62	3.28	2.52	4.21	155	3.06	2.60	3.58
	Unspecified	39	2.47	1.76	3.38	27	2.17	1.43	3.17	66	2.34	1.81	2.98
	All	170	2.45	2.10	2.85	108	2.43	1.99	2.93	278	2.44	2.16	2.75
Maternal history	Acute	24	1.70	1.09	2.53	16	1.88	1.07	3.06	40	1.77	1.26	2.41
	Chronic	63	2.94	2.26	3.77	47	3.79	2.78	5.04	110	3.25	2.67	3.92
	Unspecified	29	2.79	1.87	4.01	24	2.92	1.87	4.35	53	2.85	2.13	3.72
	All	116	2.53	2.09	3.03	87	2.99	2.39	3.68	203	2.70	2.34	3.10
Sibling history^a	Acute	68	3.11	2.42	3.95	32	2.60	1.78	3.67	100	2.93	2.38	3.56
	Chronic	143	3.72	3.14	4.39	81	3.75	2.98	4.66	224	3.73	3.26	4.26
	Unspecified	68	3.97	3.08	5.04	33	2.57	1.77	3.61	101	3.37	2.75	4.10
	All	279	3.61	3.20	4.06	146	3.12	2.64	3.67	425	3.42	3.11	3.77
Spouse	Any types of glomerulonephritis	105	1.54	1.26	1.86	105	1.52	1.24	1.84	210	1.53	1.33	1.75

Bold type: 95% CI does not include 1.00.

O: observed number of cases; SIR: standardized incidence ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Familial risks were adjusted for age, sex, time period, region of residence and socioeconomic status.

^aOnly individuals with at least one full-sibling were included in the analysis.

Table 3. Age- and sex-stratified familial risks of glomerulonephritis.

	Males				Females				All
Age at diagnosis (years)	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI
Parental history
<10	32	1.68	1.15	2.38	25	2.04	1.32	3.02	57	1.83	1.38	2.37
10–19	54	2.44	1.83	3.18	37	2.71	1.91	3.74	91	2.54	2.05	3.12
20–29	54	2.60	1.96	3.40	44	3.37	2.45	4.53	98	2.90	2.36	3.54
30–39	63	3.42	2.63	4.37	40	3.31	2.37	4.52	103	3.38	2.76	4.10
40–49	42	2.96	2.13	4.01	25	2.71	1.75	4.01	67	2.86	2.22	3.64
50–59	28	2.38	1.58	3.44	14	1.79	0.98	3.01	42	2.14	1.54	2.90
≥60	10	1.26	0.60	2.33	9	1.85	0.84	3.52	19	1.48	0.89	2.32
All	283	2.48	2.20	2.78	194	2.66	2.30	3.06	477	2.55	2.33	2.79
Full-sibling history^a
<10	28	3.38	2.25	4.90	9	1.79	0.81	3.42	37	2.78	1.96	3.84
10–19	65	5.15	3.98	6.57	26	3.86	2.52	5.66	91	4.70	3.79	5.78
20–29	61	4.66	3.56	5.99	38	4.88	3.45	6.71	99	4.74	3.85	5.78
30–39	50	3.74	2.77	4.93	20	2.33	1.42	3.60	70	3.19	2.48	4.03
40–49	26	2.23	1.46	3.27	26	3.67	2.40	5.39	52	2.77	2.07	3.64
50–59	25	2.44	1.58	3.60	19	2.88	1.73	4.51	44	2.61	1.90	3.51
≥60	24	3.04	1.95	4.54	8	1.62	0.69	3.20	32	2.49	1.70	3.52
All	279	3.61	3.20	4.06	146	3.12	2.64	3.67	425	3.42	3.11	3.77

Bold type: 95% CI does not include 1.00.

O: observed number of cases; SIR: standardized incidence ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Familial risks were adjusted for age, sex, time period, region of residence and socioeconomic status.

^aOnly individuals with at least one sibling were included in the analysis.

Figure 1. Age- and sex-specific incidence of glomerulonephritis in the Swedish population aged 0–78 years between 1964 and 2010.

Figure 2. Age- and sex-specific incidence of glomerulonephritis in the Swedish population aged 0–78 years between 1964 and 2010 by presence or absence of family history (parent/full-sibling) of glomerulonephritis.

Table 4. Concordant and discordant familial risks (parent and/or full-sibling) of glomerulonephritis.

		Males				Females					All
Disease in relative^a	Subtype of glomerular diseases in cases	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%		CI	O	SIR	95%	CI
Acute glomerulonephritis	Acute	50	4.25	3.15	5.60	17	2.43		1.41	3.90	67	3.57	2.77	4.53
	Chronic	31	1.80	1.23	2.56	19	1.86		1.12	2.91	50	1.83	1.36	2.41
	Unspecified	19	2.28	1.37	3.56	8	1.22		0.52	2.41	27	1.81	1.19	2.64
	All	100	2.68	2.18	3.26	44	1.85		1.34	2.49	144	2.36	1.99	2.78
Chronic glomerulonephritis	Acute	50	2.10	1.56	2.77	33	2.39		1.65	3.36	83	2.21	1.76	2.74
	Chronic	149	3.76	3.18	4.41	90	3.97		3.19	4.88	239	3.84	3.37	4.36
	Unspecified	64	3.58	2.75	4.57	40	2.92		2.09	3.98	104	3.29	2.69	3.99
	All	263	3.23	2.85	3.65	163	3.25		2.77	3.79	426	3.24	2.94	3.56
Unspecified glomerulonephritis	Acute	15	1.26	0.70	2.08	7	1.05		0.42	2.17	22	1.18	0.74	1.79
	Chronic	60	3.12	2.38	4.02	39	3.69		2.63	5.05	99	3.32	2.70	4.05
	Unspecified	37	4.09	2.88	5.64	22	3.28		2.05	4.97	59	3.75	2.85	4.83
	All	112	2.78	2.29	3.35	68	2.84		2.21	3.60	180	2.81	2.41	3.25
All	Acute	115	2.42	2.00	2.90	57	2.08		1.57	2.69	172	2.29	1.96	2.66
	Chronic	240	3.16	2.77	3.58	148	3.41		2.88	4.01	388	3.25	2.93	3.59
	Unspecified	120	3.40	2.82	4.07	70	2.60		2.02	3.28	190	3.05	2.63	3.52
	All	475	2.99	2.73	3.27	275	2.81		2.49	3.16	750	2.92	2.72	3.14

Bold type: 95% CI does not include 1.00.

O: observed number of cases; SIR: standardized incidence ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Familial risks were adjusted for age, sex, time period, region of residence, and socioeconomic status.

^aOnly individuals with at least one sibling were included in the analysis.

Table 5. Familial risk of glomerulonephritis according to number of affected relatives.

	Males				Females				All
Affected relatives	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI
Parental history	283	2.48	2.20	2.78	194	2.66	2.30	3.06	477	2.55	2.33	2.79
One parent	280	2.46	2.18	2.77	193	2.65	2.29	3.06	473	2.54	2.31	2.78
Both parents	3	7.51	1.42	22.22	1	4.44	0.00	25.47	4	6.40	1.67	16.55
Parent and/or sibling history^a	475	2.99	2.73	3.27	275	2.81	2.49	3.16	750	2.92	2.72	3.14
Parent without sibling history	196	2.38	2.06	2.74	129	2.50	2.09	2.97	325	2.43	2.17	2.71
Parent with one or more sibling	28	216.22	143.54	312.86	13	197.27	104.61	338.30	41	209.83	150.51	284.87
Sibling history^a	279	3.61	3.20	4.06	146	3.12	2.64	3.67	425	3.42	3.11	3.77
One sibling	267	3.49	3.08	3.93	131	2.84	2.37	3.37	398	3.24	2.93	3.58
Two or more affected siblings	12	237.62	122.19	416.38	15	287.91	160.64	476.02	27	263.16	173.25	383.35

Bold type: 95% CI does not include 1.00.

O: observed cases; SIR: standardized incidence ratios; CI: confidence intervals.

Familial risks were adjusted for age, sex, time period, region of residence, and socioeconomic status.

^aOnly individuals with at least one sibling were included in the analysis.

Table 6. Familial risk of glomerulonephritis in sib-pairs (full-siblings) by age difference.

		≤5 years				>5 years
Sex	Subtype of glomerular diseases	O	SIR	95%	CI	O	SIR	95%	CI
Males	Acute	49	3.76	2.78	4.97	17	1.97	1.14	3.15
	Chronic	84	3.61	2.88	4.47	51	3.41	2.54	4.49
	Unspecified	46	4.53	3.32	6.05	20	2.90	1.77	4.49
	All	179	3.85	3.31	4.46	88	2.89	2.32	3.56
Females	Acute	20	2.69	1.64	4.16	11	2.31	1.15	4.15
	Chronic	51	3.90	2.90	5.13	20	2.38	1.45	3.69
	Unspecified	20	2.61	1.59	4.03	9	1.79	0.81	3.40
	All	91	3.23	2.60	3.96	40	2.20	1.57	3.00
All	Acute	69	3.37	2.62	4.27	28	2.09	1.39	3.02
	Chronic	135	3.71	3.11	4.40	71	3.04	2.38	3.84
	Unspecified	66	3.70	2.86	4.71	29	2.43	1.63	3.49
	All	270	3.62	3.20	4.08	128	2.63	2.19	3.13

Bold type: 95% CI does not include 1.00.

O: observed number of cases; SIR: standardized incidence ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Familial risks were adjusted for age, sex, time period, region of residence, and socioeconomic status.