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. 2023 Dec 5;33(12):640–648. doi: 10.2188/jea.JE20220206

Table 1. Pooled relative risk and corresponding 95% confidence interval for breast cancer risk for current, former, and ever cigarette smokers versus never cigarette smokers, overall and in strata of selected characteristics.

Strata Current smokers Former smokers Ever smokers



Number of studies Pooled RR
(95% CI)
P-valuea P-valueb Number of studies Pooled RR
(95% CI)
P-valuea P-valueb Number of studies Pooled RR
(95% CI)
P-valuea P-valueb
Total 90 1.07
(1.05–1.10)
  <0.01 86 1.08
(1.06–1.10)
  <0.01 135 1.09
(1.07–1.11)
  <0.01

Geographic areac
 North America 39 1.10
(1.05–1.14)
0.28 <0.01 38 1.09
(1.05–1.12)
0.20 0.01 54 1.08
(1.06–1.11)
<0.01 <0.01
 Europe 31 1.05
(1.01–1.10)
<0.01 29 1.08
(1.05–1.11)
0.31 39 1.07
(1.02–1.12)
<0.01
 Asia 11 1.13
(0.90–1.40)
0.02 10 1.09
(0.76–1.57)
<0.01 30 1.32
(1.16–1.50)
<0.01
 Oceania 2 1.11
(0.83–1.48)
0.09 2 1.05
(1.00–1.11)
0.96 3 1.03
(0.99–1.08)
0.60
 South America 1 2.43
(1.01–5.84)
1 1.90
(1.14–3.15)
1 2.02
(1.30–3.13)

Income groupd
 High income 83 1.08
(1.04–1.11)
0.87 <0.01 79 1.08
(1.06–1.10)
<0.01 <0.01 114 1.08
(1.06–1.11)
0.07 <0.01
 Middle income 2 1.20
(0.33–4.35)
0.01 2 1.96
(1.29–3.00)
0.82 14 1.44
(1.06–1.95)
<0.01

Study design
 Cohort 44 1.10
(1.07–1.14)
0.02 <0.01 40 1.08
(1.05–1.10)
0.69 0.02 44 1.08
(1.06–1.10)
0.36 0.02
 Case-control 46 1.03
(0.98–1.08)
<0.01 46 1.08
(1.05–1.12)
0.03 92 1.10
(1.06–1.14)
<0.01

Type of controlse
 Hospital 9 0.97
(0.80–1.17)
0.44 <0.01 9 1.08
(0.94–1.23)
0.84 0.18 25 1.09
(0.95–1.24)
0.85 <0.01
 Population 34 1.04
(0.99–1.10)
<0.01 34 1.09
(1.04–1.14)
<0.01 62 1.10
(1.06–1.15)
<0.01

Endpointf
 Incidence 34 1.09
(1.06–1.13)
0.01 <0.01 33 1.07
(1.06–1.09)
0.82 0.34 37 1.08
(1.06–1.10)
0.14 0.02
 Mortality 11 1.18
(1.12–1.24)
0.46 8 1.10
(0.90–1.33)
<0.01 8 1.14
(1.06–1.22)
0.29

Year of publication
 <2002 26 1.06
(0.99–1.13)
0.28 <0.01 25 1.06
(1.01–1.12)
0.18 0.16 47 1.06
(1.01–1.11)
0.33 <0.01
 2002–2011 29 1.04
(0.99–1.10)
0.03 29 1.12
(1.07–1.17)
<0.01 41 1.11
(1.07–1.17)
<0.01
 ≥2012 35 1.09
(1.06–1.13)
<0.01 32 1.07
(1.01–1.12)
0.11 47 1.09
(1.06–1.11)
<0.01

Menopausal status
 Pre- 22 1.03
(0.99–1.08)
0.02 0.42 22 1.09
(1.02–1.15)
0.57 0.20 37 1.10
(1.04–1.16)
0.61 <0.01
 Post- 26 1.13
(1.06–1.21)
<0.01 25 1.06
(1.03–1.10)
0.55 40 1.12
(1.08–1.17)
<0.01

Estrogen Receptor
 Positive 12 1.09
(1.02–1.16)
0.39 0.19 12 1.09
(1.04–1.14)
0.81 0.18 16 1.11
(1.05–1.16)
0.57 0.02
 Negative 12 1.04
(0.96–1.13)
0.40 12 1.08
(0.97–1.19)
0.10 16 1.08
(1.00–1.16)
0.08

CI, confidence interval; RR, relative risk.

aP-value for heterogeneity across strata.

bP-value for heterogeneity within strata.

cStudies conducted in multiple countries from different geographic areas were not included. No studies from Africa.

dStudies conducted in multiple countries with different income were not included. No studies from low income countries.

eType of controls for case-control studies only. Pooled analyses considering both studies with hospital and with population controls were not included.

fEndpoint for cohort studies only. Studies providing RRs for both incidence and mortality were considered in both categories.