Table 3

Relative risks of breast cancer by changes in body fatness between ages 5, 10, and 20 years among 109,267 premenopausal Nurses' Health Study II participants (1989–2001)


Casesa (n = 1318)
Person-years
Age-adjusted RR (95% CI)
Multivariate RR (95% CI)b
Multivariate RR + starting figurec

Change from ages 5 to 10 years

     Decreased
76
59,972
0.97 (0.77–1.23)
0.94 (0.74–1.19)
1.04 (0.82–1.32)
     No change
950
720,994
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
     Increased 1 level
218
194,725
0.87 (0.75–1.01)
0.88 (0.76–1.02)
0.88 (0.76–1.02)
     Increased 2 or more levels
74
69,001
0.79 (0.62–1.00)
0.79 (0.62–1.00)
0.77 (0.61–0.98)

Change from ages 10 to 20 years

     Decreased
223
184,978
0.86 (0.74–1.01)
0.86 (0.74–1.01)
1.06 (0.89–1.27)
     No change
497
353,987
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
     Increased 1 level
463
388,462
0.92 (0.81–1.04)
0.92 (0.81–1.05)
0.85 (0.74–0.97)
     Increased 2 or more levels
135
117,264
0.93 (0.77–1.12)
0.92 (0.76–1.11)
0.82 (0.67–0.99)

Change from ages 5 to 20 years

     Decreased
172
135,479
0.91 (0.76–1.08)
0.90 (0.75–1.07)
1.06 (0.88–1.29)
     No change
449
321,121
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
1.00 (ref.)
     Increased 1 level
474
384,088
0.94 (0.83–1.08)
0.95 (0.83–1.08)
0.88 (0.77–1.01)
     Increased 2 or more levels
223
204,003
0.87 (0.74–1.02)
0.86 (0.74–1.02)
0.77 (0.65–0.91)

aIncluding both invasive and in situ cases. bAdjusted for age (months), time period (6 periods), birthweight (<5.5, 5.5–6.9, 7–8.4, 8.5–9.9, ≥ 10 lb), height (inches), recent alcohol consumption (0, 0.1–1.4, 1.5–4.9, 5.0–9.9, ≥ 10 g/day), parity and age at first birth (nulliparous, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth <25 years, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth 25–29 years, 1–2 pregnancies with age at first birth ≥ 30 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth <25 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth 25–29 years, ≥ 3 pregnancies with age at first birth ≥ 30 years), oral contraceptive use (never, past use <4 years, past use ≥ 4 years, current use <4 years, current use ≥ 4 years), history of benign breast disease (yes, no), and first-degree family history of breast cancer (yes, no). cAdjusted for same factors as above, plus figure at age 5 years (for change from ages 5 to 10 years and from ages 5 to 20 years) or at age 10 years (for change from ages 10 to 20 years), each modeled as an ordinal variable. CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk.

Baer et al. Breast Cancer Research 2005 7:R314   doi:10.1186/bcr998

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