Interactive associations of sex and hyperlipidemia with calcific tendinitis of the shoulder in Taiwanese adults

Calcific tendinitis (CT) of the shoulder is a painful disorder usually identified in individuals aged 40 and 60 years. The estimated global prevalence of CT is 2.7% to 36%. We examined the association of hyperlipidemia and sex with CT of the shoulder using Taiwan Biobank (TWB) and the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Data were available for 9903 TWB participants who were recruited between 2008 and 2015. We used multiple logistic regression analysis to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for CT of the shoulder. Overall, 1564 women, and 1491 men were identified with hyperlipidemia. Women, compared to men, had higher odds of CT of the shoulder (OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.08–2.16). Hyperlipidemia, compared to no hyperlipidemia, was associated with an increased risk of CT (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.02–1.93). The test for interaction was significant for sex and hyperlipidemia (P = .006). After stratification, the odds ratio for CT was 1.95 (95% CI, 1.30–2.92) in women and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.48–1.39) in men, respectively. Compared to men with no hyperlipidemia, the odds ratio was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.53–1.38) for men with hyperlipidemia and 2.00 (95% CI, 1.29–3.10) for women with hyperlipidemia. Importantly, our findings indicated that the risk for CT of the shoulder was higher among Taiwanese women with hyperlipidemia. However, CT risk among their male counterparts with hyperlipidemia was not significant.