Autoantibodies in the carterton population survey: The prevalence of thyroid and gastric antibodies, antinuclear and rheumatoid factors, in a probability based population sample

Abstract Latex rheumatoid factor and autoantibodies to parietal cells, thyroglobulin and thyroid microsomes in the Carterton population survey showed a significant rise in prevalence with age except for thyroid antibodies in males and antinuclear factor where the smaller number of positives did not permit analysis. No sex difference was found for parietal cell antibody and latex rheumatoid factor. Significant clustering of thyroid and parietal cell microsomal complement fixing antibodies was demonstrated. Differences from other studies can be explained by differences in technique and selection of material rather than by actual differences in the populations studied. The need for age and sex stratification and the standardisation of techniques in further studies is emphasised.