To determine the current evidence on risk factors for Kashin-Beck disease (KBD) using an integrative meta-analysis. We searched five English and three Chinese databases from inception to September 2015, to identify case-control studies that examined risk factors for KBD using multivariate logistic analysis. DerSimonian and Laird effective models are applied in processing data using pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI). Seven studies were identified with 3087 cases and 6402 controls. The main risk factors found to be significantly associated with the onset of KBD were age (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.10-1.28), parents prevalence (OR 5.16, 2.51-7.80), family hygiene (OR 1.68, 1.42-1.93), food source (OR 3.29, 2.38-4.19), wheat (OR 1.12, 1.08-1.16), wheat germ necrosis rate (OR 6.03, 1.87-12.92), total volatile basic nitrogen (OR 6.85, 1.01-28.67), low selenium in hair (OR 2.29, 1.08-3.50) were found to be significant risks factors. The pooled ORs (95 % CI) of protein intake and rice were 0.79 (0.66-0.93) and 0.90 (0.86-0.95), respectively, indicating that the two factors may be protective for KBD. We found that the combination of low protein intake, polluted grain, and selenium deficiency may contribute to be onset of KBD together.
Keywords: Kashin-Beck disease; Polluted grain; Protein intake; Selenium deficiency.